Schoone Ley, The Hague | Mix & match

Creating parking lots place for lively residential environment

In The Hague, the demand for housing is only increasing. Preferably housing where people can continue to live comfortably into old age. To this end, the municipality of The Hague is swapping parking lots for over 600 new homes, commercial facilities and a parking garage at the HagaZiekenhuis hospital in The Hague. 'What an added value for this area. Whether you're looking at black parking lots or such a beautiful, vibrant environment.'

In order to appeal to multiple target groups, project "Haga-Leyenburg" offers a mix of single-family homes and apartments, consisting of owner-occupied and rental homes. 41 single-family homes have already been completed; 464 apartments are currently under construction. There will be a public two-level parking garage underground, a parking garage for residents and a commercial plinth on the first floor, a roof garden on the second floor and apartments on the floors above. Heijmans is realizing the total area development together with the municipality.

Challenging environmental management

During construction activities, Heijmans must cooperate with many parties. A model home must be set up for prospective tenants and buyers must be informed digitally. Detour must be arranged for the busy car, streetcar and bus traffic that gathers at the nearby public transport point. Local residents must be informed about the progress of construction. "You understand that we left this complicated puzzle to a professional, experienced environmental manager and the construction team," says Harry Verheij, Heijmans project developer.

The highest point has been reached. Structural work was completed at the end of 2019.

Vibration-free pile driving

One party that should certainly not be affected by the construction work is the hospital. This must be able to continue running at all times. Ambulances must be able to turn out at any time and so must the trauma helicopter, even when six tower cranes are running. "Traditional pile driving initially seemed to cause only noise pollution," Verheij explains. "But during eye surgeries, it was precisely vibrations that could cause problems during the demolition of the sister apartment. For that reason, we switched to in-soil formed piles. First we push a sleeve into the ground, which we later fill with concrete and reinforcement. We pull out the sleeve later. The sheet piles for the underground garage are also formed in the ground."

International company

Another challenge is construction site staffing. "It's a tour at the moment to find good skilled workers. Six nationalities are already working on this project alone. You have to explain to all these people that safety is paramount and a helmet is therefore mandatory. We work with icons for this as much as possible."

The most efficient order

To meet the deadline, Heijmans is working as efficiently as possible. It bundles the homes in which the same building system is used. "The tunneled homes are in one construction flow and the homes with wide slab floors and walls are in another construction flow. The system then determines our work order. By the way, we are nicely on schedule. The highest point has been reached and around the end of 2019 the structural work was ready. In several places, work is now in full swing on the finishing touches."