Renovation residential complex Aquarius in Amstelveen 

'We took care of the nice jacket again'

That the wrecking ball is definitely not always necessary to get something beautiful in return is proven by the renovation of the Aquarius housing complex in Amstelveen. This project is a good example of what can be achieved with a few good interventions, including some sustainable ones: the old concrete skeleton has been reused and dozens of bat boxes have been incorporated on the end walls.  

IJsselmonde facade insulation completely re-insulated the old concrete skeleton. The terraced flat with 182 homes has a lot of facade area and was therefore quite a large project. 1,800 m2 of facade insulation system was installed and finished with facade stucco and facade strips. "Those are just nice meters," says Dirk Jan van der Poel, business manager at IJsselmonde. He looks back with satisfaction on this project, of which he was project manager. Van der Poel: "A substantial job like this is what we are good at. We understand what is needed to help the contractor stay on schedule while delivering quality at the same time."

Playful effect

The contemporary upgrade is easy to see on the outside. On the end walls, the 24-cm-thick insulation package is finished with white decorative plaster; at the bottom, a plinth of dark façade strips is applied that runs around the entire flat. But also the white surfaces above the entrances provide a modern look. On the front and back facade, a playful effect has been created by accentuating surfaces and by using two colors of facade strips that also have a different joint color for each gallery. Quite a job!

A great deal of time was therefore spent in the preliminary process on determining what the facade finish would look like. Jacco Oostenbrug of IJsselmonde is responsible for this. Oostenbrug: "We were involved in this project by ERA Contour at an early stage in order to prepare all the details carefully. Panels of stone strips were sent around and a trial facade was made so that the architect and client could get a good idea of the future result." Oostenbrug is also pleased with the result. "We again provided the pretty picture."

Bats

As in many old buildings, many bats lived in the apartment's cavities before the renovation. Measures therefore had to be taken to regain that housing. Van der Poel: "To this end, we incorporated boxes specially prepared for bats into our facade insulation system. We do that more and more often these days. It's a good technical solution, allowing humans and animals to coexist just fine!" IJsselmonde has dozens of bat boxes embedded in the end walls. "If you look closely, you can only see the mouths."

Both men are positive about the cooperation with ERA Contour. Van der Poel: "In the preliminary phase, the contractor knew very well what they wanted and how they wanted it. The project was also well prepared with the right facade plans and an implementation team that had everything under control. That helps tremendously in the execution and partly because of that, this project went very well for us." IJsselmonde has worked for ERA Contour many times in the past. Oostenbrug: "We have finished here, but the next collaborations with ERA Contour are already planned."