Project: Wilinkplein in Emmen
Lightweight elements with solid appearance
A robust plinth with limited weight. That’s what Akor Bouw was looking for the lightweight prefabricated facades of the Fletcher Hotel at Willinkplein in Emmen. Large glass surfaces and repeating columns in the facade of the ground floor are typical of the building’s architecture. Composite stone elements from Holonite provided a lightweight custom solution for the bottom and top of these piers.
The new Fletcher Hotel at Willinkplein in Emmen is located at the entrance of the Wildlands animal park. It was realized by Akor Bouw in Rijssen, designed by Dok architects from Amsterdam.
The building looks impressive. The columns in the facade play an important role in this ‘look and feel’. These brick piers between large glass surfaces recur repeatedly and are characteristic of the building’s architecture. At the bottom, these piers are clad with facade plinths from Holonite. At the top of the columns protruding from the facade, you’ll find a custom-made Holonite pier cover. What’s particularly special is that the pier covers are hollow inside. This makes them lightweight elements with a solid appearance.
Prefabricated projects
Holonite products are perfectly suited for such prefabricated projects. The limited weight benefits the construction of the prefabricated facade. In this case, it was a requirement because the construction consists of load-bearing columns, to which the brick piers are suspended as facade cladding. These piers are prefabricated elements, consisting of hard insulation covered with brick slips.
The composite stone from Holonite is only 20 mm thick and is therefore a lightweight solution. It combines this minimal thickness with the robustness of a stone product. The composite stone is smooth, waterproof, and easy to work with. The elements are also resistant to vandalism, and the appearance with a ‘(hard) stone look’ fit perfectly into the overall picture of this project. The Holonite elements are quick and easy to install. Holonite measured each pier individually to provide exact custom work.
Detailed proposal
Holonite was asked by Akor Bouw to devise a solution for this project. Holonite came up with a detailed proposal on how they could clad the staggered piers with composite stone elements for the facade plinths and the pier covers, and what color schemes were possible. They also offered an adhesive test to try out the attachment to the piers, as Bas van Vliet, construction account manager at Holonite, explains.
Measuring the assignment
After being awarded the contract, Holonite precisely measured all the piers. “Due to the many offsets, there were a large number of variants. In addition to molds we had in stock, new custom molds were also made for this project. Of course, the weight of the slab was also taken into account. It had to fall within the occupational health and safety lifting standard.”
The new hotel is parallel to a traffic tunnel. At the transition from the building to the traffic tunnel, the composite stone materials had to connect to the tunnel wall cladding. This was solved by adding an extra strip of facade cladding. On this side, the glued facade plinths are also mechanically secured, considering the height above the tunnel trough.
Pier covers
In addition to the bottom of the piers, Holonite also offered a lightweight solution for the top of the variations in the piers. For this, a pier cover had to be made in the same color and appearance as the plinth. Holonite developed a kind of lid element especially for this project. This special element could therefore be easily slid over the top of the piers and glued in place. The elements are fully prefabricated and are composed of plates that are glued together at an angle. This hollow solution offers the appearance of a solid block while keeping the weight limited.
The composite stone elements were installed on site by Montagebedrijf Ben van der Meijden from Veenendaal. Incidentally, this could have also been processed in the factory, in the same operation as the installation of the brick slips. For Holonite, this makes no difference at all.