The Minister will be fitted with approximately 50,000 pounds of aluminum siding

Residential tower The Minister in Rijswijk stands out not only because of its imposing height of 85 meters, but also because of a special interplay of light and space. Residents benefit from maximum daylight penetration, thanks to the use of floor-to-ceiling windows. In combination with Aldowa's aluminum flashing, a high-quality aluminum frame facade is realized.

Commissioned by building consortium The Minister (Kondor Wessels Amsterdam and Kroon & De Koning), Aldowa engineers, manufactures and assembles all aluminum siding, except for the balcony edges. "The aluminum flashing includes the roof caps, exterior ceilings, fascia edges, piers and trim above the window frames," says Frank de Vleeschhouwer, project manager at Aldowa. "And also the areas where the columns protrude through the façade are covered by us in a high-quality manner."

Imposing dimensions

"In consultation with facade builder JM van Delft & zn and already at a very early project stage, we started the engineering of the facades," says De Vleeschhouwer. "We worked with all relevant stakeholders in a 3D/BIM model, using ZZDP's aesthetic design as a starting point. During the structural phase, we measured the window frames from the first floor to the 21st floor so that we could incorporate dimensional tolerances in our typesetting. This allows us to assemble almost all of our flashings neatly, so there are hardly any completion points." What's special is that the aluminum flashing is screwed directly onto Van Delft's frames, he says. "Between the imposing window frames we install aluminum panels with a dimension of no less than 4,000 x 600 x 700 mm (lxdxh). With panels of this size, the limits of production, coating and assembly are stretched to the maximum."

Uniform facade appearance

For the facades of The Minister, Aldowa is processing about 200 m2 of aluminum flashing per floor, divided into about 70 parts. "In total, it's about 5,000 m2 of visible work, which is equivalent to about 50,000 kilograms of aluminum," says De Vleeschhouwer. "Those are serious numbers. We started production in November 2021. A lean working method was chosen here. We produce one floor per week, which is assembled on site as early as one week later. Here we work to a very tight schedule and from top to bottom. As soon as a floor is finished, the scaffolding of this floor is immediately dismantled. This makes the final result more visible to the surroundings every week. During the summer, the last typesetting elements will be installed." According to the architect's wishes, all the flashing will be finished with a metallic fine-textured powder coating (Marrone 607). "The same applies to the window frames and steel balustrades, creating a high-quality and uniform facade appearance."