What if your rented office was to acquire a residential designation and you couldn’t find a good alternative nearby? Well, you could build your ideal workplace for yourself, and that’s exactly what Maxxton did. Together with subsidiary Koole Controls, the software company recently moved into a modern new building, with huge glazed facades, covering almost 2,000 m². The sleek architecture is enhanced by horizontal ICA-300 Icarus blades, which control sunlight and create pleasant conditions in the workplace.
Maxxton has a large team, which requires adequate space. Office buildings of that size are scarce in the rental market. Fortunately, the company found a plot on the outskirts of Middelburg where it could do its own thing. Friendly architect Michaël Strenk was immediately enthusiastic about the location and the potential of the land: “The spacious site runs along a watercourse and offers beautiful views over meadows on one side and the city on the other. To make the most of the panorama, we designed the building in a kind of boomerang shape with an inner garden and outdoor terrace. The heart of the boomerang faces the Middelburg skyline.”
Visual contact between indoors and out
The client had a few clear requirements for the new office building; he wanted plenty of daylight and a modern look. “A design with lots of glass was the logical consequence,” says Maxxton’s CTO Rob Sonke, “but in terms of incidental sunlight, this is not always a great idea. We went to see a few other projects, many of which use screens, blinds, or other closed solutions. However, we wanted to avoid that type of solution, otherwise you might as well build a closed facade. That’s how we came up with the idea of working with blades.” 3D simulations were then used to investigate the required depth of and distance between the blades in order to realise the desired effect.
“Working with blades also gave us opportunities to enhance the architecture of the building,” adds Michaël Strenk. “The dynamic shape with sharp corners and the large overhang at the entrance are as much functional as design elements. As an international IT company, Maxxton wanted to put make a great first impression and it certainly succeeded.”
From curved to rectangular
“Together with Rijk Bouw and Goemaat (window frames), we advised the architect and end-user about the various possibilities at an early stage,” explains Storax technical commercial manager Fabian Greveling.
The challenge for the façade cladding was to maintain maximum transparency in a building of this magnitude. To this end, facade builder Storax – through project manager Maickel van Dokkum – was involved early on in the design process to advise, engineer and install the blades. Fabian Greveling (Technical and Commercial Manager at Storax) outlines the process: “Initially, we decided on curved blades. However, a feasibility study showed that it would be too expensive to mount them on the glass. Our alternative proposal, with manufacturer Renson’s horizontal ICA-300 Icarus blades, was very well received. We use these frequently in office buildings. They provide an aesthetic solution which complies with TOjuli legislation (which indicates the risk of overheating) without compromising the view outside. They provide shade from the high sun in summer, admit the low winter sun and preserve the open view outside. The architectural impact also offers added value. Sometimes we even apply this product without a solar control function, purely to enhance the appearance of a building.”
The next complexity that presented itself on this project was anchoring the blades securely to the glass. As it is located along the waterfront, the wind loading on the building is significant. The tricky points were mainly found the corners, where there was no room for an mounting point. Storax engineers therefore developed a fixation system that allowed the blades to extend well beyond the anchoring point. On the glass, the installation team worked with threaded studs, while the blades were fixed to the steel structure with tapped holes. Everything was aligned beautifully, to create a sleek and sturdy overall appearance.
Delighted with the end result
Aside from the usual discussions and unexpected hurdles that a construction site brings, the work ran smoothly and efficiently. Both customers and employees alike are more than happy with the result. “The positive reactions are usually not specifically about the blades, but about the overall concept in which those blades play an important role,” Rob Sonke continued. “The very low sun in the morning or in the winter months sometimes still creates a few tricky situations but blades would never have offered a solution in this context. We are still looking for an appropriate solution. We must first find our feet in our new building while enjoying the curious birds that come to watch us all working diligently from the blades.”