Unique lifting solutions for Amare The Hague

From the very start of construction activities, Wagenborg Nedlift has been involved in the lifting operations at the challenging building site. The first 50 unique facade elements with tuning fork design were put in place in 2018. 

And this was only the beginning. Amare’s facade consists entirely of over 50(!) different types of specially designed elements made of concrete, all with their own specific placement challenges. Moreover, the building site in the city centre is very cramped and due to the scaffolding there’s very little room near the facade to actually put things in place.

A nice challenge for Wagenborg Engineering’s team of engineers! In close collaboration with the client, various options for lifting the concrete elements were researched. This included deploying Lego Technics to demonstrate a solution with roll closures to Bouwcombinatie Cadanz (Boele & van Eesteren I Visser & Smit Bouw).  

Eventually, four solutions were developed to assemble, tilt and place the various concrete elements.

Some of the elements are made up of smaller parts that are assembled at the building site. For this purpose, various mounting frames were developed. Other solutions were devised to tilt and place the elements, including a tilting frame, made from two 12 meter flaps and a couple of cylinder elements of the Modular Support System.

Once the element has been mounted, a crane is used to put it vertically and it is secured with the MOS adjustment cylinder. Next, the element is detached from the horizontal flap and placed on the facade. Ballast on the horizontal flap provides the frame with extra stability while tilting.

To deal with the three-part corner elements of the Amare building, a tube-shaped solution was developed, locally known as the ‘totem pole’. The elements are fixed to the tube for assembly and then, after the concrete has hardened, lifted into place as a whole, at a height of 38 meters on the facade.

This exceptional project profited from the knowledge and skills of various experts within Wagenborg Nedlift:

The Cadanz Building Consortium (Boele & van Eesteren | Visser & Smit Bouw) started the realization of the Amare building in the summer of 2017. The assignment consisted of designing, building and maintaining Amare and was commissioned by the local authority of The Hague.  Amare is the culmination of the ‘Haagse Loper’ (a prestigious pedestrian area) in the so-called ‘Spui’ district and ensures connections in the city.

https://www.boele.nl/projectwebsites/amare/informatie