Leiden University: Granite® Deep Mat adds permanence to pre-fabricated structures

Founded in 1575, the Leiden University is one of the world’s oldest universities. When it came to creating a new building to house the university’s Board, they turned to modular construction and one of the industry’s most modern cladding materials – organic coated Granite® Deep Mat from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products. The finished structure has the appearance of a permanent building, but retains a flexible character which will enable the university to adapt to the modern world.

Detailed information

“The university asked us for a building that would last between 10 and 15 years, but which would blend in with the existing built landscape,” explains Koen Gosens, account manager at De Meeuw – the company charged with designing and building the new offices. “The power of De Meeuw is that we can quickly create such buildings using a modular system.”

De Meeuw typically utilises its own pre-fabricated system for modular construction. However, that system features a corrugated appearance. “That would not have fitted with the university’s environment,” notes Koen Gosens. “Our R&D department had a copy of the Steel Envelope design guide from ArcelorMittal, and there we found a sample of Granite® Deep Mat. I suggested it to the customer and they were immediately excited. Granite® Deep Mat fulfilled both their quality and aesthetic expectations. The Anthracite colour was also a perfect fit with the adjacent buildings.”

Strength and price advantages of organic coated steel

Although Granite® Deep Mat has a slightly textured surface, it looks very flat from as little as five-metres away. Compared to other facade materials, the Granite® Deep Mat panels can be relatively thin, notes Guus Hoogland, sales manager for Bijlbouw – the company De Meeuw asked to create the facade: “The panels we used were just 1.5 mm thick. To achieve the required flatness in aluminium we would have needed a thickness of around 2.5 mm. I was also very happy with the price comparison – we saved around 20 percent compared to aluminium.”

Another key advantage of steel was strength. “Steel is stronger,” says Guus Hoogland. “The inherent strength of steel enabled us to specify wider and longer panels – the average was 500 by 3500 millimetres. The cassettes were 1200 by 1500 mm – that’s very large. To achieve these sizes in a material such as aluminium we would have needed material 3 mm thick.”

Manufacturing support from ArcelorMittal

Bijlbouw contacted ArcelorMittal Construction to create the facade elements, notes Guus Hoogland: “ArcelorMittal’s Tiel factory is very well-equipped so we asked them to manufacture the panels and cassettes. We have worked with them for many years. It was a big advantage to have a single supplier we knew we could rely on.”

Levi Kleinjan, ArcelorMittal Tiel’s project adviser for special facade systems, examined the plans and talked the Bijlbouw engineers through some of the technical constraints of working with Granite® Deep Mat: “That resulted in a few very minor engineering changes to the design. We then ordered 1500-mm wide coils so we could achieve the very wide panels and cassettes.”

The finished facade elements were delivered to the Leiden University site where they were mounted by the Bijlbouw team. “The result is a fantastic looking building which is in keeping with its surroundings,” says Koen Gosens. “The customer is very happy with the result.”

Additional information

With over 85 years of experience, De Meeuw specialises in building and designing modular constructions which must stand for just a few weeks or for the long term. De Meeuw can design and construct a building in half the time required for conventional methods while keeping on-site disturbances to a minimum. The resulting structures are continuously adjustable to new and evolving requirements.

More info: www.demeeuw.com

Bijlbouw is a leading provider of roofing and facade solutions for both small- and large-scale buildings. The company has a range of solutions which are suitable for either new or renovation projects.

More info: http://www.bijlbouw.nl

Project information

  • Leiden
  • Netherlands
  • 2017
  • Designer & contractor:
    DeMeeuw
  • Manufacturing & installation:
    Bijlbouw
  • Client:
    University of Leiden
  • Photographer:
    Lesli Taihuttu
  • Text:
    ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products