Sustainable facades De Baak

One appealing project is the reconstruction of the monumental façade of La Place on Kalverstraat in Amsterdam.

When rebuilding this building, the original materials could no longer be used. Winhov Architects and Van Wijnen Heerhugowaard opted for a solution with replicas made of glass-fibre-reinforced material and durable, water-based Acrylic One (A1).

Nedcam provided the engineering, moulds and end products for this. A technically complex job because of the small tolerances in the connection with the façade, but the result is impressive.

An explanation: The old facade of the building had to be replaced. For this purpose, the old facade was first scanned using 3D laser scanning. This way, the façade could be rebuilt exactly in the same dimensions and with the same details. A 3D BIM model was created from the scanned data, which served as the basis for 35 A1 elements.

A direct template was made for each element to be made. These moulds were made from the seamless CNC-milled epoxy paste.

In the moulds, the elements were produced with A1. These were constructed by starting with an unfilled resin layer, followed by laminating four layers of 160g/m2 triaxial glass reinforcement. After curing, an aluminium mounting structure is attached to the back of the panel by lamination. Including the mounting structure, the elements have a surface weight of 20 kg/m2.

Thanks to the low weight, the elements were easy to assemble. This is how the façade of La Place in Amsterdam was built. A true picture.