Steel structures for Nieuw Bergen come from Oss

In the heart of the city of Eindhoven, near the Bergstraat and Deken van Somerenstraat, seven characteristic buildings are rising that will give a special impulse to Eindhoven's skyline: Nieuw Bergen. Five buildings will be newly developed, while two existing buildings will be renovated. In total, Nieuw Bergen will offer space for 237 owner-occupied and rental homes, various commercial spaces and a parking garage. The sustainable project was designed with the human scale in mind. Striking angled cut-offs and large areas of glass provide an open character and maximum daylighting, while 3,200 m2 of roof greenery encourages biodiversity in the area.

Nieuw Bergen is a project of area developer SDK Vastgoed and is being realized by Stam + De Koning Bouw (an operating company of VolkerWessels). On behalf of this contractor, Ferross Staalbouw is handling the engineering, production and assembly of the steel structures for the new-build buildings. However, the work for the Osse steel builder started with reinforcing the steel structures in the existing buildings to support the added loads. "For example, we added a steel structure in the basement," says Bob Manders, project manager at Ferross Steel Construction. "In addition, at one of the renovation buildings, the entire roof structure was renewed. We also added a footbridge (dry footbridge) between the two renovation buildings."

Surprises

"The biggest challenge in the renovation buildings was that the old drawings did not match the actual situation in certain positions," Manders says. "During assembly, we regularly encountered surprises that required chopping and breaking or custom parts that, moreover, had to be produced in no time. Because we have the entire engineering, production and assembly in-house, we were able to meet the construction schedule even with these challenges."

Double miters

Recently, the first new building was also completed. "Here the angled connections in the steel structure were particularly special," Manders said. "We had to make many profiles with double miters. A lot of attention was also paid to the proper connection with the sand-lime walls and floors." As soon as a floor was completed, the roofing contractor immediately applied his roofing materials. "So our work had to be done exactly according to schedule and in one go and done right."

Lessons learned

The new-build buildings have a similar basic steel structure. Only the height differs, Manders says. "The experience we gained with the first building will therefore be taken into account to optimize the execution in the other phases. After all, we now know exactly which facilities we need to include as auxiliary steel. Moreover, we are now familiar with the small, inner-city construction site and the challenges involved." In total, some 250 tons of steel will be processed in New Bergen.

Construsoft BIM Award 2024

Recently, the project was awarded a Construsoft BIM Award 2024 in the Commercial Projects category. "A nice recognition from the industry," Manders believes. "Certainly also for our engineering department, which managed to work out a complex project like Nieuw Bergen very well. For example, with regard to the pitched roofs." Within the project there is integral collaboration based on OpenBIM, he says. "Ferross Staalbouw has fully worked out the steel structures in Tekla Structures and exchanged them via IFC with Stam + De Koning Bouw, which merges all aspect models in Trimble Connect into one integral coordination model. Here we can seamlessly coordinate the structures with the other aspect models so that everything fits perfectly during assembly." From Tekla Structures, steel fabrication is also controlled.

About Ferross Steel Construction

Over the past decades, Ferross Steel Construction has grown from a local forge to a national and international steel construction company. The company is the expert partner for the realization of all works in steel construction. "We have all the knowledge and craftsmanship in house to come up with innovative ideas and turn them into professional designs. As a reliable partner, we are also actively committed to maximizing returns," Manders concludes. "Thanks to our advanced machinery, we can maneuver flexibly and efficiently from production to assembly. This enables us to complete large and complex projects in a short period of time."