Major circular renovation Rivierenhuis Amsterdam

The Rivierenhuis, an iconic building from 1964 in Amsterdam-Zuid, is being thoroughly renovated and collectively made more sustainable. This is necessary because there is a lot of overdue maintenance and the current homes do not meet -also energetically- today's requirements.

The large-scale renovation will include floor and wall insulation, replacing the glass with HR++ glass and getting rid of gas. The exterior of the building will also be given a facelift. For example, the dull facade panels will be replaced, returning the original dark blue color to the facade.

As circular as possible

The goal of housing corporation Eigen Haard and contractor Hemubo is to make the renovation as circular as possible. For them, it is one of the most ambitious projects ever. In doing so, they like to work with parties who are just as ambitious as they are in terms of sustainable and circular construction. One of those parties is Weerter Paneel Industrie (WPI). With a team of experts, this project looked at environmentally friendly construction from all perspectives, with reuse of materials and recycling of existing elements. In this way, smart and cost-effective construction could be carried out with an eye for the environment. "For the window frames was: where possible kept, where necessary Timmerfabriek Heerenveen made new wooden window frames," knows Willem-Jan Korsten of WPI. All window frames, new or reused, incorporate WPI's sandwich panels. And these are anything but standard.

Prefabricated sandwich panel

"Together with ClimaRad, which supplies decentralized ventilation solutions for residential construction, WPI developed a prefabricated sandwich panel for this project," continued Willem-Jan. He explains that the sandwich panel is made so that the ClimaRad ventilation system can be directly connected to it. "The prefab sandwich panel contains the system with the ventilation openings. On the inside is the panel with the connections, to which the ventilation unit can be quickly and easily installed using a mounting plate. A big advantage here is that the openings are always in the right position, so it can't go wrong." According to Willem-Jan, this panel with ventilation unit on it differs little or not at all from the standard parapet panel. "An aesthetically and functionally beautiful solution that ensures a good indoor climate in the homes!"

Steni Cladding makes a difference

This is a type of renovation where the right use of materials makes all the difference. Not only aesthetically, but also in terms of insulation values and fire class. "And through certain material choices you can also make a difference in CO2 emissions," emphasizes Willem-Jan. "That was also the reason that DOOR architects chose Steni Cladding on the outside of the facade. "It is an extremely strong stone composite slab, which is guaranteed for 60 years and is completely recyclable at the end of its productive life. "We glued the Steni Colour to our sandwich panels in the beautiful dark blue color (with dark core) of the original façade."

According to DOOR architects, the entire circular and biobased approach to the renovation of the River House results in 1.2 million kg of CO2 savings compared to traditional construction, or 60,000 trees growing a year! Impressive, thinks Willem-Jan. "As is the fact that through this transformation, the 320 old apartments from the 1960s in this River House will become modern living units, which again meet current standards, with sustainability and contemporary comfort at the forefront."