The City Post: fast and pluggable installation

Published on 7 december 2022 18 October 2023Time to read: 4 minutes

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Text: Lieke Bousema | Visuals: Isolectra

Next to Zwolle station, on the Westerlaan, for decades there has been an imposing building that was in use as a mail sorting centre until the mid-1990s. Initiated by DC Vastgoed, the building will now be transformed into The City Post; a ‘high-end’ office building where people and organisations can do business, meet, collaborate and network. During both design and construction, the BREEAM-NL ‘Excellent’ certification criteria are key. Additionally, the multi-tenant commercial building must soon be able to function ‘Paris Proof’.

The implementation of The City Post project is divided into phases. Just before the summer, Phase 1 was completed, which covered the transformation and sustainability of the low-rise building. The work was carried out by construction company Bramer in cooperation with Weever demolition, Façadis Gevelbouw, Inteco and De Groot Installatiegroep. “On behalf of DC Vastgoed, we made the shell installations for the various floors”, explains René van der Zwaag, Project Manager at De Groot Installatiegroep. “From mechanical installations to sprinkler systems, electrical installations, fire alarm systems and access control systems, including associated control technologies. What's more, we are responsible for implementing various tenant requirements.”

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Pluggable installation
The low-rise was completely gutted for its new function, Van der Zwaag says. “Only the concrete shell remained standing. Over two years ago, all old installations were removed from the building and a new transformer substation and a new main distribution box were fitted. We then started construction of the building-related systems in September 2022, which had to be assembled in a very short lead time. We could not afford any mistakes or delays. This is why we very deliberately chose pluggable installation with Isolectra.”

Early adopter
De Groot Installatiegroep and Isolectra can rely upon a long and close relationship. In fact: De Groot Installatiegroep was one of the early adopters of pluggable installation with Wieland, which, according to Van der Zwaag, offers the perfect solution for the short lead times and staffing challenges in the construction industry. “We are increasingly working with young workers and temps. A foolproof system offers a great solution in such cases,” he says. Colleague and Work Planner / Engineer Mick Loohuizen adds: “By installing pluggable, mechanics no longer need to reach the wires with their hands. Instead, they only need to assemble. Thanks to different connector colours and clear coding, connection errors are avoided.”

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Over 1,300 sensors
At The City Post, Isolectra was initially approached for the pluggable lighting and sensors. “Inteco climate ceilings were installed in the low-rise building, in which a power point for the motion sensor and fixture had to be fitted”, explains Loohuizen. “We asked Isolectra to detail a solution for this.” Yannick Boertje, Key Account Manager at Isolectra: “We specified a pluggable system for one floor, which could then be easily extended to the other floors.” In total, over 1,300 sensors have been supplied through wholesaler Technische Unie, he says. “The new DACO DALI-2 motion sensors were chosen, which are linked to the fixtures via pluggable connections. This solution uses a Wieland GST18i3® coupling cable for the power supply and a Wieland BST14i2® DALI coupling cable for the DALI controls. Wieland coupling cables are also used to connect the light fixtures.”

Prefabricated sensors
Also in the corridors, all lighting is connected using the Wieland GST18^® system, says Loohuizen. “Bi Select aluminium folding trunking (wall trunking) was also used, with a Wieland 230 V splitter block every 1,800 mm. This will soon power the workstations.” Finally, Isolectra supplied high-quality motion sensors from B.E.G. including Wieland GST^® cables, allowing them to be coupled plug-and-play into the Wieland GST^® system.

Now that the low-rise has been completed, De Groot Installatiegroep has started calculations for the high-rise, where soft-strip demolition and asbestos removal are currently taking place. In this phase, De Groot Installatiegroep is again happy to use Isolectra’s pluggable technologies. To be continued, no doubt.

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Construction info:
Principal: DC Vastgoed
Architect: De Architekten Cie (exterior) and Fokkema & Partners (interior)
Contractor: Construction Company Bramer
Demolition: Weever Sloopwerken
Façade construction: Façadis Gevelbouw
Systems: De Groot Installatiegroep
Climate ceilings: Inteco
Pluggable technologies: Isolectra

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