Defense Island, Woerden | From military site to characteristic residential area

On the edge of the city center and located on Woerden's canal, construction of Defense Island has been underway for several years. A new residential area with hundreds of homes on a site with a rich history and strong industrial character. After subareas North and Middle, the finishing touches are currently being put on the final piece: South.

For more than five years, VORM Bouw has been building the unique new construction project in Woerden. Both Vianen Kozijnen and Transcarbo were asked in a construction team at an early stage by the contractor and Architect Groosman to help think about the detailing of the façade elements and plastic window frames, respectively. "This is a very varied residential area with a great diversity of houses, apartments and penthouses," says Hans Bakker of Vianen Kozijnen. "That diversity is also in the facade construction, color shading and detailing. Throughout the construction process, we therefore worked with Transcarbo for optimal coordination. For example, we already included the plastic window frames as prefabricated as possible during the production of the HSB façade elements in our factory." Mayco van de Wal of Transcarbo adds: "We work together in this way on many projects, taking an integrated approach to a project and being able to make the facade wind and watertight on site immediately."

The window frames have hardware from SIEGENIA.

SIEGENIA fittings

Phase South of Defense Island involves approximately 5,000 m2 of HSB façade elements for Vianen Kozijnen and 457 frames (1,272 m2) for Transcarbo. Bakker: "The façade elements all have an Rc value of 4.5, but executed in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 meters wide. We can even go up to 8 meters wide in our production facility which, by the way, is located a stone's throw from Defense Island." The plastic window frames are also very diverse in size. Van de Wal: "The profiles are pulled from the mold and immediately coated with an acrylic top layer. This glass-like top layer has far fewer pores than a usual structure and is therefore less susceptible to dust and dirt attack. As usual, our frames are fitted with hardware from SIEGENIA. In this case, the doors are fitted with crank-operated locks with built-in core pull security and the windows are fitted with turn-tilt and drop hardware." Bakker adds: "The unique thing about SIEGENIA hardware is that there is hardly any friction; a window or door can be operated with minimal force." There are also several plastic window frames combined with wooden doors in this project. "The SIEGENIA hardware knows how to deal with that too," says Van de Wal. "The expansion coefficients of the different materials are neatly accommodated by the hardware."

Defense Island is a very diverse residential neighborhood with a wide variety of homes, apartments and penthouses.

The HSB elements and plastic window frames are completely prefabricated and wrapped with a protective film in the factory at Vianen Kozijnen. "Our Garant Protect packing method in combination with our Vianen Garant framework means that weather influences and building moisture have no effect on the elements," says Bakker. Van de Wal: "And by prefabricating and standardizing as much as possible, the chance of errors is significantly reduced. Once assembled on site, the window frames and the hinges and locks are all adjusted by us. After all, transport and the hoisting of the elements can cause some play." Phase South is scheduled for completion later this year.