Slim floor construction for large spans

Prefabricated floor elements with many advantages

Reppel came into the picture early on in the Maranatha Church project. The architect and chief structural engineer's choice fell on the patented, cantilevered LEWIS Steel Frame Concrete Floor system. "The ideal solution for projects where a slim and lightweight floor construction is desired," says Reppel.

The church required a new shell and a lightweight solution was sought. The LEWIS Steelframe Concrete Floor consists of prefabricated elements: a closed steel frame of C-sections embedded in a reinforced concrete shell. With this floor system, large spans of up to fifteen meters can be made. The floor is also immediately the ceiling plate for the floor below, and there are holes in the C-beams for installing piping. Finally, the whole is finished with an acoustically decoupled LEWIS top floor. Says Reginald van Dooremalen of Reppel, "Our engineering and production process started when eventually Triplets Vastgoed bought the church building and was allowed to start its redevelopment."

At Maranatha Church, Reppel supplied some 1,100 m2 of LEWIS Steelframe Concrete Floor for the ground, first, second and third floors and some 230 m2 of other LEWIS floors. The floors are applied in combination with Rebuild-it's steel-frame walls.  

Fire resistance and sound insulation

"Since there will be apartments in the building, fire resistance and sound insulation of the floors are also important. This system meets all the requirements for apartment floors. In addition, the floor has a slender structure. In the Marana-thak church, with a free span of 4,200 mm, the thickness from concrete shell to top floor is only 35 cm. This makes it space-saving but also lightweight. Ultimately, the floor weighs about 300 kilograms per m2 and within that, sound, fire resistance and piping are covered."

A smart solution for every project

It was the first time Reppel had worked with this client, but not the first time in a church building. Previously, for example, the Pauluskerk in The Hague was fitted with this floor system, and HODY steel plate concrete floors are also regularly used in transformations of church buildings. Van Dooremalen: "In such projects, where smart floor solutions are considered and where build-up height and weight are important, we can advise the right system."