New phase in redevelopment of industrial area creates 116 apartments and 18 single-family homes

During various projects, Heijmans already built many apartments, homes, offices and commercial facilities there. With Kade Noord, the construction company realized the next phase, with 134 residential units surrounding a shared courtyard garden and semi-sunken parking facilities. The first pile was driven in early April 2019 and the project was completed this spring. 

Noorderhaven in Zutphen began as an area development for Heijmans. In 2006, the Rosmalen-based firm's real estate arm bought the Reesink site. A year later, it began large-scale demolition work. Only a number of monumental buildings were retained. "In November 2012, we started the realization of a master plan, which is to provide 1,100 apartments, homes, offices and commercial facilities in several phases," says senior commercial manager Danny Janssen. "The newest gem is Kade Noord. For this, KCAP Architects & Urban Planners developed 53 apartments and Zecc Architects drew 63 apartments and 18 single-family homes, brought together in a closed building block with a shared courtyard garden and parking."

Tight planning

For those following the work in Zutphen, the tight construction schedule will particularly catch their eye: from March 2019 to March 2021. Actually, six months before that, Heijmans had already started putting together a Q-Team (construction site manager, project manager, work planner and calculator). This working group should ensure the smooth and efficient progress of the project. "We started excavating in March 2019, after which the first pile was driven at the beginning of April. Preliminary research here had shown that piling was preferable to drilling," explains construction site manager Goos Juffer. "The complex is equipped with a pawl system, which provides water management for the roof garden by means of long perforated pipes under the basement floor. By using Peikko's anchoring system, we were able to mount the concrete columns brace-free on site. Girders in prestressed concrete allow us to make large free spans, which allowed the basement deck to be spanned from column to column in one go. We also deliberately chose concrete façade elements with a cast-in-place sliding system that guarantees the anchoring of the elements, which allowed us to close the façade as early as 3 weeks after pouring the structural concrete. In this way, we succeeded in significantly shortening the structural and finishing phases. Thus, the structural work was finished before the construction holiday in 2020 and the facades were ready before Christmas, after which, during the first 5 weeks of this year, the houses were finished."   

A project full of challenges

According to the people at Heijmans, the smooth execution of such a project stands or falls primarily on the atmosphere on the construction site. Although at first glance the construction of Kade Noord went smoothly, the construction team had to deal with a number of external factors, such as contaminated soil and the weather. The biggest challenge this time, however, was COVID-19. "It is an additional task to properly apply all the measures on a construction site. Fortunately, we were able to tackle this together," Janssen and Juffer note. "First of all, there were a lot of practical issues, such as extra chain and urination columns, adapted canteen hours, jerry cans full of cleaning alcohol and the well-known 'one and a half meter distance' stickers. However, we also had to convince a team of 180 people to come to the site while the rest of the country was allowed to work at home. It also comes down to always being there for those people and continuously guiding them in all areas." The Heijmans team succeeded with verve in this challenge and is meanwhile already busy with the next construction project for Noorderhaven.

Project info 

Custom fencing for prestigious residential project with apartments and houses

When it comes to fencing, balcony glazing, stairs and auxiliary structures, architects, housing associations, property developers and contractors can call on the specialists at Trahecon with their eyes closed. The Waalwijk-based firm, with its production facility in Poland, is also one of Heijmans' preferred suppliers and active for the Noorderhaven new construction project in Zutphen. 

"We were involved in the Field 4 project at an early stage to provide a technical solution for the fencing that the architect had integrated into the plans," says commercial manager John Loeffen. "Since everything with us is customized, this project was no exception to the rule. At Trahecon, we perform everything in-house: from engineering and production to planning and assembly. In doing so, we work with the 3D/BIM construction model, which minimizes the chance of errors from the start. The construction company's request for this project dates back to February 2019, and we recently assembled the last elements on site. We were also recently awarded the contract for Field 2 and Field 3 at Noorderhaven in Zutphen."

Construction Info

Client
Heijmans Realty, Amersfoort

Architects
Zecc Architects, Utrecht and KCAP Architects & Urban Planners, Rotterdam

Main contractor
Heijmans Housing Construction, Rosmalen