Prefab roof system further elevates sustainable character of new housing development

With the UNIPRE prefabricated roof system, UNILIN not only offers a broad and easily applicable solution, but also when it comes to sustainability, the concept developed within the company's own walls has everything to offer. Moreover, the roofing elements all meet the highest requirements in terms of sound insulation and thermal insulation. Hazenberg Bouw is making grateful use of these benefits in the construction of the Vredeoord new housing estate on the outskirts of Eindhoven. Jasper Koelman, project manager on behalf of the Vught construction company, is also full of praise for both the product and the cooperation with UNILIN.

The homes are ready for the installation of UNILIN's UNIPRE roof.

With UNIPRE (in full UNILIN Prefab), operating from Oisterwijk, UNILIN focuses primarily on serial housing construction. But the roof system is also a perfectly suited and, above all, extremely durable solution for vacation parks, for example. "In addition to the excellent thermal and sound insulation properties, all roofing elements within the UNIPRE program are composed of high-quality raw materials and are KOMO certified," says Sales Manager Prefab Solutions Pieter van der Bas. "FSC-certified wood is mostly used for production. In addition, the wood chipboards are produced entirely in-house and we use recycled waste wood during manufacture."

Natural materials

The excellent physical and sustainable properties of UNIPRE are increasingly being recognized and utilized by end-users. One of these is Hazenberg Bouw, an independent division of TBI. The company is currently hard at work on behalf of Sint Trudo housing association, building around 250 houses and apartments on Vredeoord, the site on Boschdijk in Eindhoven where the Philips head office used to be located. When the project is completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, Eindhoven will have a green and spacious residential area within which sustainability will dominate. "For example, Vredeoord will be completely gas-free and the neighborhood will be equipped with a large battery of solar panels," Koelman says. "In addition, we are betting heavily on the use of natural materials. One example is the wood, some of which comes from the adjacent GGzE site. Furthermore, loam is used for the bricks, some of which was mined on the project site. The CSR character is further underlined by the fact that the wooden façade panels are screwed together by people with a distance to the labor market."

The end result. (Image: igor Vermeer)

Solid base

With UNIPRE, Hazenberg Bouw is adding even more lustre to the project on the sustainability front. Of the 193 houses being built by this company specializing in residential construction and transformation, 165 will have a pitched roof. An appearance for which UNIPRE forms the solid basis. "For each house we use four UNIPRE roof elements," explains Koelman. "They are assembled in pairs on site into a complete roof cap and then lifted into place. A job we can perform quickly and efficiently thanks to the excellent quality and perfect workability of this top product. We can count at any time on the support of UNILIN, which is now regarded as a highly valued co-maker of our company. During the acquisition and quotation stage, but also around procurement, engineering, delivery and aftercare. In short, both in terms of product and cooperation, UNILIN acts at a high level. A working method that fits perfectly with our quality consciousness."