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In the Lelystad station area, 107 rental apartments are being built in the new Hanzepark complex. GeMa Bouw, a masonry company from Rijssen, is handling the masonry work: jointless facades where every brick must fit to the millimeter.
The Spoordok complex is part of the Hanzepark, the first construction project in the Stationsgebied West area. The Centrada housing authority is having three buildings constructed here, each with its own height and color, designed in the Dudok style.
GeMa Bouw is handling the masonry work for this project. The craftsmen began work in September 2025. “It’s a major project,” says Gerwin Nijland of GeMa Bouw. “And it has quite a few unique features.” For example, the masonry is being laid without vertical joints. “That means there’s no mortar between the vertical joints. The bricks are placed tightly against one another. That’s why the vast majority of the bricks have to be cut. It’s quite labor-intensive work.” The masons all have brick saws and vacuum cleaners at their workstations. “Everything has to fit together perfectly. So we have to work very precisely.” At the same time, the jointing is done immediately: pointer work, in which the masons finish the horizontal joints in a single pass.
In addition to the masonry work, GeMa Bouw also provides the insulation package. This consists partly of HSB walls with insulation and partly of new insulation applied to concrete walls.
The height of the complex makes logistics on the construction site very demanding. Bricks and mortar must be hoisted to the upper levels using a tower crane and personnel lifts. Foremen supply the floors with wheelbarrows. In addition, the building’s facade features many curves. Nijland: “There’s a lot of curved masonry involved. But we have a great team working on it, with experienced Dutch and Romanian masons and a strong foreman who oversees everything.” The collaboration with general contractor Ter Steege and all the subcontractors is going very smoothly. “That really makes all the difference for a project like this. If you can work well together, it saves a lot of work. Then, together, you can create something beautiful.”
The schedule is tight. The masonry has to be finished before the construction industry’s summer break. “We’re making good progress on the upper floors. We’ve got about seven or eight weeks left,” says Nijland. “The masonry really puts the finishing touches on the building. That’s the beauty of our work: it’s work that’s immediately visible. When we’re there, you can really see that something is happening and that the building is getting more and more beautiful.”
