Building illusions
An office on one of Utrecht’s canals approached me with this question: “I can see how low the water in the canal is. I would like to deepen my existing basement, with the foundations at canal level. That should be possible, because then I won’t have any groundwater […]
Read moreTaking part in the Eigen Huis (Ver)Bouwen + Inrichten fair
This fair at the Jaarbeurs attracted a high proportion of private visitors. A large group of homeowners had brought their original construction drawings to discuss their structural plans with Siemelink. It became clear that many homeowners have a fairly good idea of the structural consequences of vertical loads. But […]
Read moreVisit to the Bouwbeurs 2013
For Firma Siemelink, the main innovations at the Internationale BouwBeurs 2013 were: 1) Until recently, the insulated beam-and-block floor used a prestressed concrete beam. This beam is now being replaced either by a cold-formed steel section (Reppel & VBI) or by a reinforced plastic section (Rentovloer by De […]
Read moreRenovation of Muziekcentrum Vredenburg
On the open building day on 1 June, the public could visit the renovation of Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht. During construction, the contractor discovered remains of Vredenburg Castle. Because this is a listed national monument, the contractor had to build around it. The building services contractor also had to change all their plans at a late […]
Read moreVeemarkt meeting, 15 May 2012
The municipality repeated the timetable and said there would be no district heating for the homes to be built on the Veemarkt site. In early September there will be a market for the plots in block E. Marktmeesters explained the plans for collective private commissioning (CPO) 50+ for block X.
Read moreThe removed wall that should have stayed
This week I was asked to assess a house with rapidly growing cracks. On the ground floor, the contractor had removed a wall A perpendicular to the rear wall and, as often happens, installed a support beam to carry the vertical load. This 1920s house, however, had a […]
Read moreComparison of Eurocodes and NEN standards
Comparison of requirements for structural calculations (Netherlands) NEN-EN 1990 (new) Consequence class CC3 | high-rise h >70 m | 1.49G + Σ 1.65ψ0, i Qk, i (a) grandstands | i ≥1 exhibition | halls | 1.32G + 1.65Qk, 1 + Σ 1.65ψ0, i Qk, i (b) concert halls | i >1 Consequence class CC2 | residential buildings | 1.35G + Σ 1.5ψ0, i Qk, i (a) office buildings | i ≥1 public buildings | industrial buildings | […]
Read moreEigen Huis (Ver)Bouwen + Inrichten
On 1 April I visited this fair. The Utrecht fair drew around 25,000 visitors. Few of the architects on the stands, whether BNA members (the Dutch architects’ association) or not, knew that the Eurocode for structural calculations became mandatory in the Netherlands on 1 April. What impressed me most were the new low-cost screw pile foundations.
Read moreWinners of the Veemarkt competition
On 23 April, the Aorta architecture centre held an evening of talks by the two prize winners. The second prize offered a neat solution for a collective private commission (CPO) of musicians: an inner corner that gets little daylight. Since the group consisted of musicians, and a music practice room naturally needs little light, the practice room was […]
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