Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
Living in a church, it will soon be possible in The Hague. There, 21 apartments will be realized in the Paulus Church. Housing with a character all of its own, tailored to the wishes of the buyer. The main contractor is Giesbers Rotterdam. It has now installed the piles and will soon start on the new foundations and the construction of the layout of the apartments.
The church will house 21 homes: 10 ground-level homes with a garden and 11 homes with a balcony or spacious roof terrace. The uniqueness of the church building is reflected in every home, whether it is the devotional chapel, baptistery, a confessional box or a church window. Moreover, buyers - all apartments have been sold - have been able to make certain wishes regarding their homes known. "These are included in the preliminary process during the development of the building plans," says Rutger Veldhoen, deputy director at Giesbers Rotterdam. That company initially bought the Paulus Church and transferred the building to developer Urbannerdam.
The work is being done in a construction team, in close consultation with the client and several other specialized companies. "Building in an existing building always brings challenges, and it's no different in St. Paul's Church," Veldhoen points out. "We are going to use a box-in-box construction using precast elements: steelframe concrete floors and metal stud walls. Bringing that interior package into the building is a challenge. The elements will be brought in through the roof - which has been partially removed." The building was carefully measured, he says. And yes, as so often happens, it's not straight. "But it's not too bad in itself; there are no very big deviations." The roof in its former form will not return. "There will be a superstructure with a dwelling on top of the church," he says.
High durability value
The transformed Paulus Church will have a high sustainability value, better than the current standards for new buildings. This will be achieved, among other things, by highly insulating floors and walls, applying triple glazing and connecting the building to district heating. "They will be comfortable, contemporary homes, but the character of the reconstruction monument will be preserved in many places. The demolition and preparatory work will therefore be carried out with great care and policy. However, some new church windows will be made, for example, so that more light can enter, and in the middle of the church there will be an atrium for the same reason."
Limited space
Piles for the new foundation were installed in February. Veldhoen expects construction work - currently demolition and preparatory work - to resume in a few weeks. Its preparation is in a concluding phase. Much attention is being paid to logistics in the process. "We have to take into account a construction site with limited space here. Everything has to be processed immediately. The access roads are both one-way. We cannot store anything on the public road. In addition, another new building complex is being constructed next to the church. We will use the basement floor of that for a while to put a crane on. Where the crane will be placed next, we are currently figuring out. Everything in close consultation with the municipality." In addition, a communication process has been set up to the surrounding area. To local residents, but also to two schools and users of a sports field, says Veldhoen. "We have to take into account a very diverse target group. That's why, for example, we are consulting with the schools and regularly sending information to other stakeholders. We are now preparing this as well as possible so that the inconvenience during implementation will be limited."
Veldhoen says the schedule is challenging because there is still much to do. "More asbestos was discovered than expected, but that hasn't caused any major delays. As it stands now, we expect to deliver in the spring of 2020."
