On-site pouring of floating stairs: Dutch hotel chain goes for Belgian custom concrete work

The Van der Valk Hotel Best-Eindhoven is under construction, with planned opening in 2022. The characteristic eye-catchers in many new Van der Valk establishments are the impressive concrete stairs in the lobby. Due to their design and size, these can only be poured and finished on site.

This is already the fourth Van der Valk branch where Tom Hermans BV from Hoogstraten, Belgium, has been called in for the custom staircases. After all, such an order can only be successfully completed by a highly specialized company.

Hussar

Specifically, these are two central, semicircular spiral staircases with landings, from the basement to the ground floor and from the ground floor to the second floor. Both staircases are attached only to the floor floors and two lateral columns. This makes them virtually self-supporting. The stairs span a height of 8.8 meters, have a width of 3 meters and a diameter of 13.4 meters.

Because of the strength required in such a construction, each staircase was equipped with as much as 3 tons of reinforcement. Together with the 26 cubic meters of concrete, this accounts for a total weight of 68.4 tons. The entire project, from preparation over formwork and pouring to curing and demoulding spread over a period of just 3 months. A true feat that the craftsmen of Tom Hermans BV can put on their record.

From raw to fair-faced concrete

In 2010, Tom Hermans, business manager, entered the then company of his stepfather on a self-employed basis. The main activity consisted exclusively of placing formwork for rough stairs. In 2016, Tom Hermans took over the business completely.

From his fascination with concrete and architecture, he began to specialize more and more in exposed concrete. Initially for stairs but later for kitchen countertops, reception desks, portals and other interior pieces in concrete.

New technologies

In 2019, Tom Hermans attended training abroad to work with fiberglass-reinforced concrete. Because this concrete is only 2.5cm thick, a huge weight saving is achieved, greatly simplifying the production of prefab pieces in the workshop. Consequently, the installation of these pieces is usually done in less than one day. Also in terms of color and design, the possibilities here are virtually endless.

Flexibility

We are now almost 11 years on and the former sole proprietorship has grown into a company with 6 full-time employees and a number of permanent subcontractors. They are currently the only company in the industry that works with multiple shifts, allowing them to respond flexibly to customer needs. It also allows them to tackle larger construction sites, such as this one at Van der Valk, where they have already completed several staircases.

Tom Hermans BV works for both contractors and private individuals all over Belgium and the Netherlands and is known for its service and expertise. Since February 2021, they have moved into a new company building in Hoogstraten, where a showroom has also been set up.