Excellent customized facades, from creation to realization

The Rotterdam, Mol Campus, Varso Tower and 8 Bishopsgate. These architectural masterpieces at home and abroad show crystal clear what Scheldebouw has excelled at for over sixty years: designing and building innovative, high-level custom facades.

Scheldebouw is part of the Permasteelisa Group and operates mainly in the Benelux, United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. "From Middelburg and Heerlen, we take care of design, project management and production," says CEO Jalal Fitoury of Scheldebouw. "We think along with the largest architects in progressive designs and then make the translation into a manufacturable unique facade. We also take care of production, logistics and assembly. That versatility makes us unique."

Calibration moments

Fitoury continues: "The image and quality that you outline on the front end must be secured until the assembly and delivery of the facade. We do this by incorporating various calibration moments throughout the process. For example, once we have approved the design, we start with a visual mockup. An aesthetic prototype of one and a half floors at full size, to make sure we all have the same image in mind. If the visual mockup is approved, then we make the performance mockup. In this phase, we create the actual elements. We test these in our own testing facilities to demonstrate the structural and building physics performance. After another acoustic mockup and/or assessment, we start bulk production. In the initial phase of the production process, we present the so-called "first articles" to demonstrate and guarantee the high quality of our workmanship in the factory. The final calibration moment is the assembly, where we demonstrate the performance of the façade taking into account the installation tolerances."

Quality, safety and efficiency

Element facades are the core business of Scheldebouw. The elements are produced in our own factory, under ideal conditions, and transported to the construction site ready-to-use. There, they only need to be assembled. "Because we prefabricate, we offer high-quality products and contribute to safety and efficiency on the construction site," says Fitoury. "If a facade consists of an element facade in combination with other facade types, we also realize those other facade types. In this way, we relieve the customer with a total package for the entire facade. Besides realizing high-quality facades, our strength lies in the service and flexibility we offer in the design process. We can flawlessly integrate complexity in 3D geometry, unlimited materialization and high performance requirements of the facade into a manufacturable, high-quality product that we then realize ourselves."

Special facades 

Current, sensational projects by Scheldebouw include Mol Campus in Budapest and Varso Tower in Warsaw, both designed by Foster and Partners. Fitoury: "Mol Campus is a blueprint for the office of the future. The large-scale, high-quality, curved glass façade contributes to this. Consisting of multiple systems and glass shapes, this facade offers plenty of natural light, open views and a direct connection to the external context and fresh air inside." At 310 meters, the Varso Tower, which is still under construction, will be the tallest office building in the European Union and is already showing its grandeur. "What is special about this tower is that we have created a local production site close to the construction site in Warsaw. This allows us to achieve fast and efficient supply." 

Closed Cavity Façade

"Another eye-catching project is 8 Bishopsgate," Fitoury continued. "This architecturally outstanding building in the heart of London has what is known as a Closed Cavity Façade, or CFF for short. This is a conditioned double skin façade with built-in solar shading. It delivers high performance in terms of energy, acoustics and maintenance. We produce this façade on a specially designed production line in Middelburg." With projects like 8 Bishopsgate, Scheldebouw is fulfilling its sustainability ambition: accommodating people's needs, for now and in the future. Fitoury: "We offer façade solutions that seamlessly meet the client's needs while contributing to a long service life, minimal maintenance and the least possible waste of materials." 

Integrality

Looking to the future, Fitoury sees many opportunities in integrality. "Besides providing wind and water tightness, more and more is expected of a facade. Think of integrated sun protection, but also structural or installation functions. We have the technical knowledge and expertise in-house to think along in those disciplines and come up with innovative facade solutions that enrich the skylines of major European cities."