The Edge Amsterdam

At the beginning of the design, the target was an Excellent certification, but when it became clear during the process that more was possible, the designers focused on an Outstanding certification.

The Edge is one of the largest buildings in the world to achieve an Outstanding certificate from BREEAM. Cees den Ouden, senior project manager at OeverZaaijer, believes that the achievement in this area, in addition to the structural approach, is also thanks to the installation technology. Active energy concepts were used in The Edge, such as thermal energy storage (TES), a heat pump system connected to district heating, a PV installation on the south façade and the roof,consisting of hundreds of solar panels, and a climate ceiling in the building that provides both cooling and heating. However, these energy concepts only come fully into their own if the outer shell of the building is highly insulating.

Thanks to the enormous angled glass façade, The Edge is a striking appearance on the Zuidas in Amsterdam. The glass atrium of approximately 3,000 m2, constructed from the ground to the top, is a very eye-catching feature of the office building. The glass atrium removes ventilation air from all 15 floors, the façade regulates sufficient daylight entry and heat supply takes place through the space. Especially the upper half of the façade posed a challenge, because nothing in the façade is straight.

“The façade has a large surface area with large spans and the necessary connections,” explains Den Ouden. ‘In addition, the roof not only slopes backwards, but also contains an angle.’

There is also always movement in the façade due to temperature changes, so the tolerances had to be properly integrated.

The Novastruct products applied contribute to the BREEAM score in various ways, covering the largest part of the building façade and providing excellent insulation, helping to reduce energy loss.

Novastruct’s range of solutions also contributes to the ‘health and well-being’ category of BREEAM by enabling optimal daylight entry and transparency in the building.

And considering the fact that Novastruct supplies only aluminium products, a sustainable and highly efficient building material, the project also received points in the ‘materials’ category.

The sloping, angled façade of The Edge proved to be quite a technical challenge. A design with different angles alone would already be difficult. But in this project, the architect also wanted to see perfect vertical lines when looking at the building.

For this unique project, multiple complicated processes were required to develop, install and make everything work perfectly. Every product was specially developed for this project to meet the requirements and needs.

Novastruct’s ability to create custom-made products ensured that it was top-of-mind with the architects working on this project. With its long history of proven engineering and custom-made solutions, Novastruct was asked to supply systems and solutions for the building.

Façade construction company Rollecate from Staphorst worked together with Novastruct and installed these products and solutions.

The Novastruct products incorporated into The Edge included the RT 72 Reflex window system and FSX 100 curtain walling.

For the wedge-shaped section of the façade that slopes backwards, a special project solution was created by Novastruct. Martijn Bergsma, project engineer, explains: “To properly drain rainwater, it was necessary to adjust the contours of the profiles. We gave the profiles the same angle as the roof, allowing the water management to remain on the horizontal plane.

‘The connections and sealing of the sloping façade surfaces were so complex that conventional seals were insufficient,’ explains Bergsma. “This was solved by applying innovative 3D printing technology.” After years of research and collaboration with Delft University of Technology to apply 3D printing in façades, a 3D printed component was actually implemented in practice in The Edge.

The seals were drawn based on 3D models and subsequently printed with high dimensional tolerance and assembled in the façade.

‘This technique guarantees high wind and water tightness and simultaneously provides optimization in the production process.’