1. The project: Symphony

Symphony in Amsterdam at the Zuid-as is a multifunctional building, with a mixture of public, semi-public and private functions. This project consists of a two-storey underground car park of approx. 20,000 m² with above it a 105-meter-high residential tower, a 97-metre-high office tower and a hotel. The slim residential tower has a commercial plinth. The wider office tower with low-rise buildings has a plinth that houses a mixture of commercial spaces, general public spaces and an art centre.

2. Byldis contribution to this project

Byldis produced and then delivered and installed the complete precast hull and sandwich masonry facade elements for both towers. For the residential tower, we supplied the solid floors including installation facilities. For the offices we used hollow core slab floors. For both towers; internal walls, floors, stairways and landings.

3. Why was Byldis chosen?

The speed of construction and limited space on the construction site led MAB Development Nederland to choose Byldis for the precast construction of the towers, with outer facades in sandwich masonry. The original constructive design was translated to a precast variant.

After the construction of the underground car park, the two towers were built and made wind and watertight in just four and a half months; a saving in construction time of three quarters of a year when compared to traditional construction methods. The ultimate reason for choosing precast concrete! (source: Betonhuis)

4. Challenges & solutions

One of the first high-rise masonry projects
At the time, Symphony was one of the first high-rise masonry projects for Byldis. It comprised the construction of two towers entirely as precast hull and with sandwich masonry. The masonry was applied as a sandwich element in one go, so brick laying at such height was not necessary. The installation facilities were also delivered as precast elements and fixed in place. There is a greater chance of delays due to wind when working at height, which means that the tempo of bricklaying ultimately defines the overall construction tempo. Applying this sandwich construction made it possible to build one whole storey in three to four days.

Profiled masonry
A special feature of this project was that many different kinds, shapes and colours of brick were used. So, there were areas in which various kinds of brick were used in one element. Flat extruded bricks in combination with rough, textured bricks. This selection of bricks, which met the architect’s demands and suited our production process, was compiled in close collaboration with the supplier.

5. Facts & figures

6. Footage

7. More information about Symphony

More information

• https://www.symphonyoffices.nl/