Eneco World

• Goldsmiths Centre
• University of Tilburg - renovation library
• Landal Green Parcs
• The Wall phase 2
• Lano
• Kuehne + Nagel
• Commercial building
• Synthon FTOL
• Music Palace
• Municipality Laarbeek
• Zorgvliet and Doenrade
• Kromhout Barracks phase 2
• Eneco World
• HIVA phase B, 71 apartments
• Verfdoos

It is an eye-catching building in regards to its shape and sustainability: Eneco’s new head office. The building has a clever exceptional construction, orientated on the position of the sun. It consists of three curved construction parts which vary in height. The high-rise has fifteen floors, the medium rise has nine, and the low rise has six. These three construction parts surround a central atrium with an eye-catching glass roof, which stands out because of its shape. There is another pavilion in front of the low-rise which has three floors, and consists of a triangular shape and curved façades in the same radius as the other construction parts.

In regards to sustainability, high performance-demands are made of the building in regards to energy consumption, air tightness and insulation; the Rc-value is 4.0 m²K/W. Extraordinary technical and sustainable solutions have been incorporated into the building in regards to solar energy, wind energy and air circulation. A high level of care has also gone into planting. There will be a roof garden on the roofs of the medium-rise and the low-rise building and the roof of the pavilion will be a “green roof”. The three bottom floors of the entire building will also be built as “green façades”. The building was designed by Dam & Partners Architects for OVG Projectontwikkeling.

The Oskomera Group’s contribution to this project amounts to an extensive amount of work. It concerns engineering, manufacturing, delivery and assembly of:

• approximately 3.450 m² aluminium lower façades
• approximately 4.800 m² ceramic façade cladding
• approximately 2.210 m² aluminium curtain wall systems
• approximately    900 m² aluminium glass roof above the atrium
• approximately 1.780 m² fireproof wooden interior lining
• approximately    120 m² glass entry
• approximately      70 tonne steel construction for the atrium roof and the entry

As stated above, the Oskomera Group has offered this complete package to “unburden” the main contractor. This extends to having all the work on the façades carried out self-supporting by Oskomera on platforms

The aluminium lower façades only feature in the façades on the outside of the high-rise, medium-rise and low-rise. Strict demands are made of the lower façades in regards to fire resistance, fall prevention, sun shading and acoustic insulation. The high demands in regards to air and water tightness are also unusual, namely 650 Pascal, and not only for the elements themselves, but for the connection to the concrete inner liner, against which it is fitted as well. Special details have been developed by the Oskomera Group’s engineering department in order to achieve that. Simultaneously with this development, a new adjustment option was developed in order to prevent being dependent on the set dimensions of the traditional embedded, wooden window frames in the concrete elements. Project based size protocols have been established between Oskomera, the concrete supplier and the assembly company for the prefab concrete elements. In addition to the application of the aluminium lower façades, Oskomera is also responsible for the assembly of the ceramic façade cladding on the outside of the three parts of the building. This concerns all work from the concrete indoor panels outwards; taping the concrete seams (wind proofing), applying metal rear construction and the insulation and hanging of the plating. The façade cladding consists of terracotta plating, 600mm in height and 300mm in width in the colour RAL 9010 (white).

The glass atrium roof with a span of more than thirty metres is the most remarkable challenge because of its connection to the façades of the three surrounding buildings. The shape of the high-rise, medium-rise and low-rise means this connection is not in straight, but curved lines. The roof surface is also at an incline, which means water drainage demands extra attention. This does not only include water from the roof, but water from the façades above as well. The atrium roof (a semi-structural curtain wall system) will be supported by four frames (so-called “buikspanten”) which are connected to the concrete structural frame of the building. Finally, the curtain walls appear in the façade of the high-rise above the atrium roof, in the pavilion façade and at the entrance. The void façade on the north-west side of the high-rise is a remarkable curtain wall. This façade spans 7.00 meter at points and is required to meet the same high standards for resistance to wind and water as the aluminium lower façades.
 

All in all, the construction of Eneco’s prestigious head office is a challenging and sustainable project, which provides Oskomera with yet another opportunity to prove what it is capable of.