From parking lot to innovative school building in 7 months

The schedule was tight: in just seven months, the new construction of Education Center Leijpark in Tilburg had to be completed. Quite a challenge, but that's what contractor Pellikaan Bouwbedrijf bv likes. Superintendent Freek van der Mast and project coordinator Lars Willemsen talk about the project.

A whole new school building now stands in the parking lot of the Elizabeth-TweeSteden Hospital. Education Center Leijpark focuses on special education and the building is designed with all the facilities to suit the needs of students with different support needs. Van der Mast: "Here you find education and care under one roof. That means many different needs and wishes. We managed to meet them all and translate them into a beautiful and functional building. And also for a limited budget."

As contractor, Pellikaan was responsible for the entire construction. The biggest challenge? The enormous speed at which the project had to be realized, because the planning was very tight. Willemsen: "Pretty exciting, because if you promise in advance that you can build so quickly, you still have to deliver. And we did!"

Good atmosphere on the construction site

Pellikaan provided a very tight schedule. "At peak times we had three cranes running and we worked long hours throughout the project," Van der Mast says. "As the main contractor, it was our responsibility that all the subcontractors actually worked through. And they did! We worked hard almost every Saturday, and on Ascension Day there were even twelve roofers on the roof to get that closed in time as well." That tight planning paid off: the school building was completed and in use after seven months. Van der Mast: "And we are enormously proud of that. It is very nice to see that the atmosphere remained good on the construction site all this time. We really did it together! All the contractors and installers gave their best. So nice to see that everyone also really came up with smart and creative solutions to speed up due to the time pressure. For example, one of the installers prepared a complete prefab installation room in the factory, then placed it on the construction site within one day. This led to a time savings of six weeks."

'Almost every day classes came to see'

Pellikaan went out of his way to meet all the wishes of the health care and educational authorities. "For this vulnerable target group, many extra facilities are required at a school. For example, barrier-free construction, elevators, care areas near the classrooms and a therapy pool. About 50% of the students are in wheelchairs: you really have to adapt the building to that," Van der Mast said. Communication with all stakeholders and especially the school itself was very important. Willemsen: "It was very nice to see how involved the school and the children were. We had given safety vests and yellow children's helmets to the school and almost every day students and staff came to watch the construction of their new school." Van der Mast adds, "That also made this project extra special."

Trusted construction partners

Pellikaan looks back on the construction project with pride. "We are very happy that it all worked out in the tight timeframe and that we were able to think along with them about all the wishes and requirements," explains Willemsen. Van der Mast: "It was nice work for us. We had good, trusted construction partners who knew exactly what they were doing. This project was quite a challenge, but we succeeded by thinking two steps ahead each time. In this way, we raised our own work to an even higher level."