Car park De Hallen: the best floor finish for each area

By working closely with the client, offering advice and feedback, Bolidt has been able to surface the floors of the De Hallen car park in Amsterdam with the perfect finish. Specific solutions were selected to meet the requirements in each part of the car park, thus providing De Hallen with the best possible floor finish in terms of durability and ease of maintenance.

Located in the heart of the oldest part of Amsterdam West, the complex known as De Hallen is a former tram depot once used to service Amsterdam’s first electric trams. This listed building was renovated over the past years and given a new life. De Hallen now house, among other things, a library, cinema and crafts centre, as well as restaurants, cafés, an art library and apartments.

The two-storey, 165 capacity car park under De Hallen is open to both local residents and visitors of the complex. For the floor surfaces in the car park, Van Wijnen Haarlemmermeer, in consultation with the City of Amsterdam, brought in Bolidt’s expertise and years of experience in (further) developing floor finishes tailored to car park applications. In its own laboratory, Bolidt devises and tests flooring systems for different areas in a car park. The resulting flooring materials are then produced by Bolidt itself and also installed by its own specialists. This is how all expertise is kept under one roof and clients are assured of flooring systems that excel in durability and ease of maintenance. Previous projects completed by Bolidt include installing parking surfaces in car parks at the Academic Centre for Dentistry in Amsterdam (ACTA/VUmc), Kruisplein in Rotterdam, PGGM in Zeist, Boskalis in Papendrecht and the Radboudumc in Nijmegen.

In the meantime, Bolidt has also been commissioned to supply the de floor finish – 50,000 m² in total – for the new car park of shopping centre Hoog Catharijne in Utrecht.

No squeaking

Bolidt distinguishes itself in the market by providing extensive input to clients. For De Hallen, the types of floor finish were carefully selected based on the intensity of use of the car park. The driving lanes were finished with the Boligrip^® 50 R system that offers excellent resistance to (high) traffic loads. The parking bay areas were surfaced with the Boligrip^® 50 P system. This wear-resistant floor finish has been especially developed to withstand the stresses from braking and parking vehicles. What makes it extra special is that squeaking sounds from turning tyres are a thing of the past with the Boligrip^® 50 P finish. The ramps feature the Boligrip^® W H system, which stands out for its durability and does not require any maintenance for 15 years.

On the lower level of the car park, the vapour-open version of the Boligrip^® system was installed. Bolidt has custom developed this version in its laboratory. The advantage it offers is that it is a breathable system. The flooring material allows ground water vapour from below to exit freely and, at the same time, is impermeable to harmful liquids on top of it. It thus prevents moisture problems and keeps the concrete in optimum condition. The flooring systems have a very long life and hardly need any maintenance.

With its many years of experience, Bolidt supports clients in making choices. In the case of De Hallen, for instance, Bolidt contributed ideas for the design of the underground car park. The chosen colour scheme gives the car park a fresh appearance. Bolidt also marked the parking bays and columns with corresponding numbers. As a result, De Hallen now have an underground car park that is comfortable and easy to use.