Façade element is heart of collaboration

The façade sealing element, which is the main component of the external façade renovation in Overvecht, is engineered, manufactured and transported by Prefab Building Systems of Schagen. The element has been used in this form in all project phases and 5,400 façade elements have now left the factory. "For the FMP drives we deliver 12 elements 3x per week, of which 8 are assembled in one day," says director Alex Huibers.

For the renovation of the facade, Prefab Building Systems supplied the timber frame elements: a wooden base frame was fitted with insulation, foil and interior sheeting, a fire-resistant foil, aluminum profiles and Alucobond c.q. Neolife cladding on the outside. Frames and glass with grids were also installed directly in the factory from Schipper Kozijnen. The prefab elements weigh about 700 kilograms, measure about 3.70 by 2.80 meters and, after dismantling the existing concrete works, are hoisted in and fixed from the building scaffold on a guy line by Kooistra Geveltechniek. After this, the facade is wind and watertight and only an aluminum frame is clicked in, which is purely aesthetic.

Safe way

Huibers: "In this way, the right construction speed can be achieved in a safe way. Construction technical and logistical aspects are constantly intertwined: with porch flats, everything has to be just-in-time, and the panels are not all the same in terms of detail dimensions, which also listens closely. Every porch has its own dimensions." Obviously, with a project like this, you have to streamline the entire production based on specific production lines, and Prefab Building Systems keeps a lot in its own hands. "Obviously the prefab assembly, but also the large end sizes of pinewood are sawn and planed here at cousin Roy Huibers in Schagen. It remains customized detail engineering. We try to control as many factors as possible."