High quality frame and curtain wall systems for Prologis DC4

Eindhoven is one of Europe's most important trade centers and an important economic hotspot of our country. A sought-after region for many logistics service providers. Prologis knows that too. With Prologis DC4, the developer and provider of industrial real estate has had a brand new and extremely sustainable distribution center developed at GDC-Noord in Eindhoven. Van Iersel Geveltechniek was responsible for the design and realization of the high-quality frame and curtain wall systems including the aesthetic strip grid. A project that tastes like more....

With its combination of location and excellent transportation infrastructure, Eindhoven is perfectly equipped to meet the logistics needs of international trade. Located just northwest of Eindhoven, GDC-North is a multimodal site with almost direct access to four major highways: the A2, A50, A58 and A67. There is also a rail connection with a terminal on the Rotterdam-Eindhoven railroad line. Eindhoven Airport is only 3 kilometers away. The new Prologis DC4 is situated on a 9 hectare plot and covers an area of approximately 29,000 m2. 

Highly insulating

Prologis DC4 can be easily divided into units of some 11,000 m2. The distribution center also has a mezzanine above the loading zone and features an attractive office area. "As a partner of main contractor Van der Heijden Bouw en Ontwikkeling, we helped think about the facade sealing," begins Corné van den Broek of Van Iersel Geveltechniek. "For us it involved a project of some 1,200 m2 of curtain walls and frame systems. Although the office area is only a marginal part of the total project area, it was the main component for us in terms of facades. We used approximately 450 m2 of Schüco ADS 75 SI type frame systems and 780 m2 of Schüco FWS 50 curtain walls in the project. The choice of the high-insulating systems was mainly due to the required insulation values and the possibility of providing triple glazing."

Diagonal band grid

A nice touch for Van Iersel Geveltechniek in this project, according to Van den Broek, was in the white band grid of aluminum tubular profiles for the facade of the office. "It may not have been super complicated, but it still required the necessary attention," he reflects. "The box sections of the diagonal band grid were anchored to the
horizontal and vertical curtain wall profiles.    

In doing so, we deliberately kept the distances as short as possible for maximum stability. This was obviously not possible for the section with a free span at the front of the office building. Here the tubes were additionally reinforced with internal steel where necessary. We also had to deal with relatively large panes of glass that were stacked in the curtain walls. This also required the necessary coordination in order to transfer the glass weights of up to 700 kilograms to the rear structure as well and as directly as possible. All in all, as mentioned, not earth-shattering challenges, but it made the project just a little bit more special."

Van Iersel Geveltechniek spent just under 12 weeks assembling the frame and curtain wall systems on site. In March 2021, Prologis DC4 will be officially completed. "The building as it stands now is actually only about half of it," Van den Broek knows. "It is part of a bigger picture. In fact, the intention is to add another similar building mirrored on the left side. By the way, the start date for this phase 2 is not yet known, but we are hopeful that we will also be allowed to make this new building, almost an exact copy." Prologis DC4 is Breeam Outstanding certified, by now not a huge challenge for Van Iersel. "We have had to deal with sustainability labels more often in recent years, so it is already almost the rule rather than the exception."