Versatile concrete shell for Ara Almelo

At XL Businesspark Twente in Almelo, Heembouw is building a very special distribution center. Ara Almelo will soon be a green oasis, both inside and outside. That brings with it the necessary extra weights, but Preco, as a total supplier of the concrete shell, also knows how to deal with that. The same goes for the many different shapes of the building.

"Through Heembouw Architects, we were initially approached to design the concrete elements of the unusual distribution center," begins Erwin van Ommen, project manager at Preco. The warehouse has a size of 39,119 m2, is divided into four units and further includes 2,597 m2 of offices and a mezzanine floor of 5,269 m2. "We are supplying the hollow-core slabs, elevator walls and insulated exterior walls here. All in all, a multifaceted project for us, given the different shapes of the units and the different load classes."

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Preco started production of the concrete elements at the state-of-the-art plant in Apeldoorn at the end of November 2022. "In total, the project involves for us about 1,000 m2 of insulated walls in various formats for the exterior walls, the walls for four elevator shafts in various (substantial) formats and just under 10,000 m2 of hollow-core slabs in various thicknesses, including insulated hollow-core slabs for the first floor," Van Ommen lists. "Because each unit has a different shape, it is a matter of fitting and measuring and, above all, producing and transporting in the right order so that no stagnation occurs on construction. To date, this is going nicely according to schedule. The hollow-core slabs for the four units vary in thickness from 265 to 400 mm. That substantial thickness is necessary to support the load of the large tree benches, among other things. Yes, there is plenty of attention to green inside as well. And that means we have to reckon with loads of up to 500 kg/m2."

The distribution center will soon not only have a green appearance with the many plantings and the natural screen around, but has also been realized in a responsible manner. This results in a BREEAM 'Very Good' certificate and the building performs 66% better than the legal MPG standard. "The end result will soon be there. Unfortunately, from the outside you won't see much of our beautiful work anymore," Van Ommen says with a smile.