'De Bocht' - Cruquius Island

Amsterdam, Netherlands

SABA at De Binnenbocht project

Zwapex invited SABA to come to Cruquius Island, a suburb of the Eastern Docklands in the Zeeburg district of Amsterdam. In 2008, work began on transforming this originally industrial region into a residential and working area, and work currently is in full swing. At De Binnenbocht – one of the projects on Cruquius Island – Zwapex is carrying out various activities and is using different SABA products for this purpose.

From industrial to residential and working area

Multiple large-scale construction projects are being developed on Cruquius Island in Amsterdam, one of which is the ‘De Binnenbocht’ project: 156 homes and 700 m2 commercial space, spread over three blocks (De Bocht, De Loods and 2Peer). De Bocht, see photo, will be a ‘cascading’ tower with 15 stories at its highest point. It will be one of the eye-catchers of the new residential area. From the interior of ‘De Binnenbocht’ you have a view of the Entrepothaven, a harbour off Cruquius Island. There is room for walking here, and there will be room for different restaurants and the hospitality industry.

The 'Binnenbocht' in Amsterdam

SABA at the façade

Bertus van Atten, Account Manager at Zwapex, is our tour guide. As we enter the site, Van Atten points to the façade’s unique appearance and tells us that the concrete sandwich panels below the sand-coloured façade elements have been sealed with EPDM by Zwapex at the Hibex plant in the city of Groningen, and have been glued with Sabatack® 750. When asked why they are using Sabatack® 750, Van Atten responds: “Sabatack® 750 bonds very well with EPDM, as well as wood and concrete, it dries fast and is able to withstand high temperatures. This is an important property in view of the temperature variations to which the façade is exposed.”

Additional benefits of Sabatack® 750

SABA on balconies

The tour moves into the building and via a number of bare staircases and empty rooms, we end up on a balcony. Here we encounter various technical details that are sealed with SABA products. Jan Vermulm points to the joint between the column and the balcony, and between various balcony elements, where Sababuild® 650 has been used. “The Build 650 has a broad bonding spectrum and therefore has many applications. Its stable UV properties* makes it suitable for use on balconies, even when your balcony faces south,” says Vermulm. The glass railing has also been glued with Sababuild® 650. This makes De Bocht’s balconies a perfect example of this product’s broad range of application.

Additional benefits of Sababuild® 650

The glass railing has been glued with Sababuild® 650

Making smart use of self levelling properties

SABA at the front door

After we go up a number of scaffolds, the tour continues on a higher floor. Van Allen tells us that between the walkway and the threshold there is a drainage gutter. This gutter is relatively deep and therefore difficult to cover and seal uniformly. “Unless you pour self-levelling SABA MS Floor SL into it. You then know that the entire bottom is covered and that the product evenly flows towards the drainage holes. ” For that matter, these drainage holes were somewhat of a challenge in this situation: to prevent the drainage holes from draining the sealant and possibly becoming blocked, Zwapex inserted small pipes treated with oil into these holes. After curing, it was easy to simply remove these pipes, thus keeping the drainage holes intact.

Van Atten anticipates the next question and says: “MS Floor SL is able to withstand various substances, such as sidewalk salts, in other words melted water with sidewalk salt that ends up in the gutter does not adversely affect the concrete floor.” We thank Bertus for his progressive insight and his quick response.

Discover more of the SABA MS Floor SL qualities

SABA at the top level

After spending a sunny afternoon in the building on Cruquius Island, the tour ends at the building’s top level. With a magnificent view of Amsterdam in the background, we discuss the afternoon with Van Atten and Vermulm. “On the one hand, a major benefit of SABA is its broad product range. As a result we are always able to find what we need at SABA. On the other hand the broad application options are of key importance to us. That means we can perform multiple tasks with a single product. That makes a difference in terms of the number of products we need to take along and the quantities we need to keep in stock,” says Van Atten. It is clear that with Zwapex, SABA’s high-quality products are in good hands and why Zwapex is known as expert in the field of sealing in new development, renovation and maintenance projects.

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