Short preparation time, quick build time and fully plug-and-play

Published on 7 december 2022 28 February 2024Time to read: 4 minutes

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Text: Lieke Bousema | Visuals: Isolectra

The gap between supply and demand in the housing market is widening, making it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to enter the market. The government therefore aims to scale up housing production from 70,000 to 100,000 new homes a year. To enable this acceleration, a different approach to the construction process is needed. RAP Wonen is responding to this with affordable, sustainable and quality housing based on precast concrete elements and with pluggable technologies, which can be connected quickly.

RAP Wonen is a label of Ouwehand Bouwen & Ontwikkelen, which has more than 20 years of experience in concept-based construction. “RAP Wonen is a further development of our existing OB2 concept and is distinct in the market thanks to an innovative construction process, minimal use of raw materials and extremely low maintenance costs”, says Tim van Westerhuis, Commercial Manager at Ouwehand Bouwen & Ontwikkelen. “Within the label, we distinguish three types of houses: single-family houses, lifetime homes and apartments. At the basis of each home are prefabricated and façade-ready concrete shells (including window frames, electrical cabling, water pipes, insulation, and stone strips), and flooring and roofing elements, which are delivered by various construction partners and can be assembled plug-and-play on site. Including installation. This allows us to make substantial savings on construction time, site personnel, transport movements and nuisance. Moreover, eliminating errors and failure costs as early asthe engineering phase creates a smarter product.”

Concrete basis
According to Van Westerhuis, choosing concrete shells over timber, for example, has several reasons. “First of all, today’s concrete is very green. Additionally, a survey of clients such as municipalities, housing associations and investors found that concrete is still their preferred choice. This is partly because concrete is more robust, has better soundproofing and is low odour. Concrete also offers the quality, longevity and low maintenance we envisage. We therefore worked out the concept in concrete and sought out the right partners for this, such as Isolectra for the pluggable installations.”

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Just the right expertise
“We think it is important to work with partners who have just the right expertise,” Van Westerhuis says. “Isolectra is a market leader in its field and works on forward-looking concepts. Pluggable installation in concrete is a great example. We had an instant click.” Bran Jalink, Innovation Manager at Isolectra adds: “We got in touch with Ouwehand Bouwen & Ontwikkelen in early 2023. Together, we looked in detail at the RAP Wonen label and how we could implement the pluggable installation in concrete in such a way that the houses could be easily assembled, disassembled and reassembled. The houses are built from prefabricated concrete elements into which our systems are pre-cast. On site, the individual building elements then only need to be connected. Because we were involved from the very beginning, it was possible to focus emphatically on the installation technology rather than the structural model. This allowed us to create a very simple but effective installation concept, at a favourable price.”

Installations cast in place
At the basis of this concept is the IP66/68/69k waterproof RST20^® system, including lighting points, wall sockets and cables. “The special cables and connectors of this system are so durable and reliable that they are the only ones in the market certified to be cast directly, without conduits, into precast concrete walls and concrete floors”, according to Jalink. “Another major benefit is that the systems – like the elements themselves – can be disconnected and reconnected as required. In order to streamline the processes for this as well as possible, we advised a flooring supplier who is already very familiar with our RST20^® system. We also visited the precast factory of wall supplier Spaansen Bouwsystemen in Harlingen and made several test walls until the fitters had mastered pluggable installation in concrete.” The first three façade-ready shells for the RAP Wonen Experience Centre were also produced on this site.

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Experience Centre
The three RAP houses have now been completely dismantled and moved to Ouwehand Bouwen & Ontwikkelen’s office in Katwijk, where they were rebuilt within one week and with the help of an electric construction crane. Besides building elements, pluggable technologies are also an important prerequisite for this. “One home will be fully completed, including plastering, paintwork and furniture, while the second home will be shown in a turnkey state”, according to Jalink. “The third house is kept as open as possible, so that interested parties can see very clearly how the house is constructed in structural and installation-specific terms.” The intention is that the houses will remain in Katwijk for at least 10 years.

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