Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
Elements is rising in the Amstel Quarter in Amsterdam. The approximately 70-meter-high and sculpturally shaped residential tower will be built as a demountable structure, using natural and recycled materials as much as possible. While the plinth is made entirely of wood, aluminum and glass alternate on the floors above. Large areas of glass are stylishly interrupted by balcony edges with integrated solar panels, which generate more energy than the building uses. A strong piece of engineering by Sorba Projects.
Sorba Projects has been a household name in the world of high-quality cladding and project cladding for more than half a century. Its reference list includes numerous high-profile projects, such as High Five in Utrecht, Crossroads in Amsterdam and Tesco in London. Elements will be added at the end of this year. Starting on the 5th through 23rd floors, Sorba Projects is realizing 13 iconic balcony edgings constructed from an aluminum substructure and gold-colored laminated glass with integrated solar panels. In addition, brown-beige aluminum cassette panels are manufactured and assembled for the back of the balcony edges.
“The aluminum substructure is already assembled into 1,600 precast racks at our Winterswijk plant,” says Ken Rouwenhorst, project engineer at Sorba Projects. “This allows us to keep up with the high pace of construction on the scaffolding. In total, we attach 125 racks per floor. Here we use the steel outriggers, which have already been poured in by the contractor. We then mount our horizontal profiles, into which all the windows are hung when the scaffolding is lowered.” Laminated (safety) glass was chosen, with 1,100 solar panels being incorporated into the flat windows on the sunny sides (south, east and west). “For this we are working closely with glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain. On the non-sun side (north), some 400 laminated windows will also be installed, with a special foil providing a unified building appearance. In addition, the project has over 200 round and tapered curves.”
Early in the project, Sorba Projects created a mock-up about 6 meters long, which included a curve, several straight panels, a handrail and a Rockpanel back panel. “However, the architect did not like the panel and did not think it was appropriate for this project,” Rouwenhorst says. “Therefore, we proposed an alternative panel of 3 mm thick set aluminum, which did meet with his approval. The aluminum cassette panels are hung in the same aluminum racks as the laminated glass, creating an aesthetic and technical whole.”
