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The three residential towers with a total of 357 complete student apartments and a healthcare complex proudly adorn the park near the town of Zwolle. The main contractor Dubotechniek asked Winkels Techniek to supply all the electrical engineering, the heating installation and hot water supply for the student accommodation in Zwolle. The construction partners look back at a relatively large project, a lot of repeat work, a successful switch to tunnel construction - and above all a successful collaboration.

Ideal student accommodation

The new building in the heart of Zwolle is ideally located for students. All 357 student apartments have their own toilet, shower and kitchen. As well as the students apartments, the accommodation also includes 26 apartments, offices and treatment rooms for Tactus Verslavingszorg (Tactus addiction care). The Salvation Army is also accommodated with ten apartments. The residents also have a central bicycle storage whose roof is used for a basketball court with benches. 

Our good coordination meant we were able to perform the repeat work efficiently.

Efficient repeat work

As the main contractor for all electrical and mechanical installations (E&M), Ronald de Vries, project manager at Dubotechniek, was in close contact with Winkels Techniek. “Good coordination was crucial to performing the repeat work involved in the 357 student apartments efficiently. This work great with these three parties. 

We feel very much at home with these sorts of quick building projects.

Working in seriality

Arie Zoontjes, project manager at Winkels Techniek: “This kind of student accommodation, where students live in complete apartments, is becoming more and more popular. We feel very comfortable with this kind of quick construction project because our method of setting up installations quickly and in seriality.”

Acting proactively

De Vries continued: “Winkels performed the electrical part dynamically: they were proactive and got on with things quickly. This also applies to the specific construction for Tactus for which something had to be designed and implemented quickly. The construction was performed quickly and smoothly, partly thanks to good coordination.”

Winkels is a greater partner that you can get started with and connect with quickly.

Connecting quickly

The speed of the execution was also the most important challenge for the construction company Wessels. Winkels is seen as a qualified installation partner for such a quick construction. “Winkels is a greater partner that you can get started with and connect with quickly. Complemented by their short lines of communication, the company fits well with the culture of Wessels. That’s why Winkels was also commissioned again for new projects such as the milk market in Zwolle,” said a project manager.

Complete electrical engineering

The Winkels Techniek fitted the buildings with complete electrical engineering (E-installations) and the heating system with hot water generation. The building is made more energy efficient thanks to the use of solar panels and LED lighting. Furthermore, Winkels installed a fire detection system, a CCTV camera surveillance system, IT infrastructure with fibre optic cabling, outdoor lighting and access control (in collaboration with the supplier). The new building was awarded the ‘Good’ certificates from ‘BREEAM’, a method for measuring and assessing the sustainability of buildings.

Tunnel construction also meant considerable time savings for Winkels.

Tunnel construction

An interesting detail of this project is that the traditional building was converted into a tunnel construction just before the execution. This made it possible to build a complete storey in just four days, including the preparations for the installation work. It was possible to do this very quickly, which also meant significant time savings for the engineer Winkels.

Bridge over technology

Arie Zoontjes also looks back at a successful collaboration between the various engineers. One example he named was the installation technology included towers’ attics. “The installation work of Roderie, Bonthe and Winkels came together here. Upon Dubotechniek’s initiative, we created a 2-metre pipeline route to accommodate all the technology in order to make maintenance as easy as possible. A bridge was built above it so that the service technicians can easily reach the technology.”