Once a year Team V goes on a study trip with the entire team. We visit our own and other architect’s projects to gain inspiration and knowledge. And of course to see what our colleagues are working on. On Friday January 13th it was time for our yearly journey again. At eight in the morning we hit the road with a busload of yellow jackets, white construction helmets and heavy safety boots. On this year’s program were the construction sites of the Gelderland House of Province and The New University Building and the completed projects a.s.r. and Hotel Arena.
The Gelderland House of Province
The first stop was the Gelderland House of Province in Arnhem. During the bus ride it started to snow, resulting in some idyllic pictures. The House of Province is to be completed this spring, so luckily we were able to cross the construction site warmly and dryly. Our architects and engineers of the design team each took a group of colleagues on a tour and gave an explanation of the design and the technical challenges. One of the particularities of the building is the atrium roof of ETFE cushions. After hearing all the stories in our office, it was extraordinary to see what the roof looks like in real life. Another eye catcher was the mirrored ceiling of the underpass in the new building.
Renovation Headquarters a.s.r.
After touring the construction site in Arnhem the bus drove us to Utrecht, where we visited the sustainably renovated a.s.r. headquarters. The project was officially opened in June 2016 and has been in use for a while. After a delicious lunch at Restaurant Plato our colleagues of the a.s.r.design team each took us on a tour along the spacious voids and the spectacular winter gardens and told us about the building’s architectural design.
The New University Building
After the warm reception in a.s.r. we continued our tour to the windswept and rainy construction site of the New University Building in Amsterdam. Fortunately, we were enthusiastically welcomed by the contractor (Boele & Van Eesteren i.c.w. Visser & Smit Bouw). In the site office we were told us an interesting story about the creation of the underground parking and how the Building Information Model (BIM) was a useful tool to achieve this. Then we were given a tour around the construction site. Most of us had already seen it on the livestream, bit it’s always different in real life. Despite the rain it was a lot of fun to walk around the site and to experience how high the atrium truly is and to see up close how thin Slimline floors are constructed. Drenched but excited we returned to the bus for our final stop: Hotel Arena.
Hotel Arena
Hotel Arena in Amsterdam is a special project to us, because it’s the first project granted to Team V. The design includes the extension of a listed building. The new hotel wing is still under construction, but two pavilions, the renovated chapel and the new entrance have been completed already: Restaurant PARK opened its doors in October 2016. The proud owner Paul Hermanides welcomed Team V in one of the pavilions for a wonderful dinner; a delicious ending to a beautiful day.
Construction site photo albums
Are you curious about the progress of the above mentioned projects? On Facebook we keep photo albums of the construction sites:
Het Gelders Huis
Het Nieuwe Universiteitsgebouw
Hotel Arena
- Share