Van der Valk Exclusive Woerden is a hotel for the next generation

The first plans for a Van der Valk Exclusive hotel in Woerden date back to 2018. Five years of preparing, planning, going through procedures and meetings later, agreement was finally reached with the municipality to build a new branch of the hospitality company almost on the A12 motorway. Obviously a beautiful sight location, the family has a patent on that. In October 2023, the first pile went into the swampy ground and in the spring of 2026 the first guests can make their appearance in the hotel that has seven, no eight, or in time perhaps ten floors.  

Van der Valk Woerden consists of a wide two-story substructure that houses the lobby, a wellness with fitness and a swimming pool, large restaurant and conference center. On top of that is a tower with the hotel rooms. "The initial approach was 125 rooms with the possibility of expanding this later," says Rik van der Valk, who forms the management team with his sister Nikki. "Corona caused strong price increases and thus a different business case. To recoup the extra investment, we consulted with the municipality and nearby businesses about possible additional floors. During construction, the permit for an additional layer came in, bringing us to 144 rooms. Perhaps in time the tower will get two more layers; the construction is prepared for that. First let's see how it runs here and make money."

Round shapes

The hotel differs from most of Van der Valk's other locations. "It looks like Deventer (completed in 2021; ed.) but with rounded corners," Van der Valk continued. "It was designed by our in-house architect Teunissen and I think the result is very successful. The round shapes also recur inside, for example in the swimming pool. In terms of routing and guest experience, it also incorporates all the experience of the other hotels. The latter is the best every time. We are building for the next generation of guests with their modern wishes, so that the hotel can last for decades and can soon pass on to the next generation. And I learn an enormous amount from the whole construction process. I myself supervise mainly the structural work, Nikki and my sister-in-law Amber do the interior, and as a sounding board I can always call on my parents."

Maintaining flexibility

Now Van der Valk is not an average client, work planner Arnoud van Broekhoven and foreman Maarten Bolle know. Both are employed by contractor Van Omme & De Groot and have many Toekan hotels to their name. For Van Broekhoven, nineteen years ago (2005) Nootdorp was his first, which was also the first in the Van der Valk Exclusive series. Bolle has worked on a series of new construction projects and expansions since 2007. "Then you quickly learn that things can change along the way," Van Broekhoven begins. "Van der Valk wants to keep flexibility as long as possible, after all, the market can change quickly, while we prefer to see everything fixed as soon as possible. Our added value lies partly in the great flexibility we can offer. On the other hand, we have a relatively large amount of freedom in working out and optimizing the designs." 

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Piles from 12.5 to 18 meters were driven for the foundation. On these the piles, beams, elevator pits and the swimming pool were installed and finally the basement floor. Bolle: "The district water board allowed us to pump a maximum of 100 m3 per hour, which meant we could not make the pool basin and a large pile under the elevator pit at the same time. That meant we had to adjust the planning and routing. From the first floor up, high-rise and low-rise were then cut up." 

The shell is a combination of cast-in-place and precast concrete. The foundation, basement floor, walls and columns were cast in situ. The stairs, landings, elevator shaft walls, balcony slabs and parapets were prefabricated. The storey floors were constructed with wide slab floors. In order to obtain a column-free conference hall, 40-cm thick hollow-core slabs of 14.70 m long were used with an 8-cm compression layer. Bolle: "Square columns were boxed out, round columns - up to 7 meters long - were made with Monotube. The concrete classes vary from C50/60 for the lower layers for 80 cm thick columns to C30/37 for the 50 cm thick columns on the upper layers. Slaman van der Zwet made a nice fast train for the hotel layers. The extra floor that was added in the interim, nota bene, was even realized in the originally planned shell time." 

Parapets

On the ground, 1st and 2nd floors, prefabricated parapets with vertical stone strips are used. These are attached to the floor edges with heavy angle lines. Van Broekhoven: "On the 3rd and 8th floors, precast balcony slabs, including parapets, are poured to the floor with iso baskets. In the factory, the parapets were produced in advance and then placed upside down in the mold of the balcony slabs. After the balcony slabs were poured, they were turned 180° so that we could put them in place on site directly from the truck. If one or two additional floors are eventually added, the precast roof slabs with cast-in-place parapets can be sawn off at the location of the iso baskets, after which they can be moved to the top floor. Only then a steel structure will have to be made on which these can be affixed."

Tanks

During the construction phase, installer Linthorst came up with another idea: place a couple of water buffer tanks in or near the building that you fill with hot water at times of electricity surplus or cheap energy. You can use this water during peak hot water demand - between 6 and 7 p.m. - with minor additional heating. "With a payback period of 10 to 20 years, Van der Valk initially went along with this idea," Van Broekhoven says. "We then suggested using the empty space under the terrace for this purpose. Lowering the foundation beams under the terrace a bit and pouring through the basement floor created a perfect space for the tanks. Because of the delivery time of the 8.5 m long tanks, the first floor had to remain open until the tanks arrived. Partly because of the large diameter of the tanks, around 3.20 m, we decided to build the first floor above the tanks with hollow-core slabs. Then Van der Valk gave up on it again - wide plate back - only to agree again three weeks later. Just in time to be able to include the channel plate."

Logistics

The hotel is now in the facade closure and completion phase. In that, too, things can change. Van Broekhoven: "The shaft walls were to be constructed entirely of sand-lime blocks. Since the shafts can only be closed at a later stage and the dry construction is already in full swing, you don't want to have to glue and plaster sand-lime blocks. Logistically, it wasn't practical either, because the sand-lime blocks would have to be supplied via a construction elevator. Therefore, in consultation with Van der Valk, the decision was made for dry lining with metal stud walls. The wall between the rooms and the shafts is made of sand-lime brick. The bathroom and toilet walls are made of Ytong panels. These were already stocked on the floors during the structural work." Standing under the impressive steel structure of the main entrance, Bolle and Van Broekhoven look forward to the rest of the construction process with great confidence. "When you're used to working for Van der Valk, you don't let yourself be surprised easily anymore and you actually start to appreciate the freedom in working. Just give us another client like that."