The new construction project Het Dok is located in the NDSM site, the city port of Amsterdam, where contractor Van Wijnen is realizing the architectural concept by “Architekten Cie”. It’s a complex consisting of a long plinth and three residential towers with in total 449 apartments. Two of the towers have 21 floors, the apartments offer between 50 and 106 square meters of living space.

Innovative process shortens high-rise construction

The construction method is reminiscent of the "De Hoge Regentesse" project in The Hague, where a similarly innovative method was used, saving three months of construction time.
“We copied a lot of the working method at `Hoge Regentesse´,” says Jan van den Boogert of Van Wijnen. “And that works well here, too. Based on the construction drawings, Xella determines where the product pallets should be located. Then we check if there’s still a need for movement in connection with the installations. Together with Xella we give a definitive GO.” Then about 60 to 80 pallets of Ytong autoclaved aerated concrete are lifted per floor. These are delivered just in time, in close consultation with Xella's logistics department. Since Het Dok is located at a tightly built-up area, there is hardly any space for material storage and the Just in Time delivery was obligatory. 

Building with prefabricated Ytong elements

The early pre-positioning of the Ytong panels (which are used for the partition walls) leads to a construction time reduction of three days per floor. In total the construction time can be shortened by more than six months and “Het Dok” will therefore be opened in the first quarter of 2022 (expected).

In addition, another component also contributes to this fast construction progress: prefabricated façade elements. “We build the towers without scaffolding, with a façade element that is part of the supporting structure. No fewer than 18 construction disciplines come together in the façades: from masonry, window frames, installing glass and insulating to making it airtight.”, reports Jan van den Boogert. The elements include lintels and balconies. "We hoist those elements up in one go, which is really cool to see.”