Variation from roof shape to frame in new housing development in New Brooklyn

As Nijhuis' trusted co-maker in the Trento® concept, Heembeton often works on special construction projects. But a new construction district entirely in the style of the New Brooklyn neighborhood of New York? That was an entirely different challenge! Account Manager Bianca Hofstee and Project Manager Jan Feiken talk about the great variety of homes.

"We supply the shell in this project, that is, the precast concrete walls and facades," Feiken says. "We do that including the assembly of the window frames. Three to four weeks before we erect the walls, we receive the window frames from Nijhuis. We then assemble those in the factory. That's a big advantage on the site itself, because then you don't have to place the window frames on the fourth floor. Among other things, fewer operations ensure a safer and faster process."

Size was not the challenge

According to Hofstee, New Brooklyn is a hefty project, but that is not the biggest challenge. "Ultimately, together with Nijhuis, we are building more than half of the 1,400 homes. We can handle that number just fine. The challenge this time lies in the variety of styles. After all, these are special housing types." Feiken adds: "These are ground-level homes with apartments above them. We also built four-story split-level homes. You have to prepare those well anyway. And then there are the different roofs: flat, curved or gabled. The sparring of the window frames also varies from one house to another." To take on these kinds of varied projects quickly anyway, Heembeton works in customer teams. "Our customer teams think out all these details in the pre-project. Because if you have to figure it out on the construction site, you're way too late. Even during the project, we keep thinking along to catch problems."

Pie tips

The end result of all that advance planning? "A smooth construction," Feiken says. "For example, we're now working on seven tenements that are in a fan shape. That's challenging, because in the floor you then get pie slices. Again, we figured that out in advance, so we can put these homes up quickly."