Square PoortCentraal in The Hague

Bolidt News

square poortcentraal the hague

The consortium MTC PoortCentraal bv was commissioned by Rijksvastgoedbedrijf (RVB) to convert the building at Rijnstraat 8 in The Hague to a flexible government office. Rijnstraat 8 is part of the new Masterplan office accommodation in The Hague, expressing an efficient and effective government.  After completion, however, it appeared that in wet conditions users found the surface of the Square to be slippery. And this created dangerous situations.

Slipperiness

The building at Rijnstraat 8 houses, inter alia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BZ), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Public Works and Water Management (IenW), the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA), the Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V) and a desk function for the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). The building offers some 4,400 workplaces and is visited by many thousands of people every day. So, the slipperiness of the terracotta-like coloured concrete floor at this square really was a serious issue, for which the architectural firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) approached Bolidt. OMA knew Bolidt from earlier projects, for instance De Kunsthal in Rotterdam and the Taipei Performing Arts Centre in Taiwan – that were realised to the satisfaction of both parties.

The right spreading material

Bolidt’s extensive experience and knowledge of bridges, platforms and parking garages regarding the required roughness values appeared to be very valuable for this specific challenge. The solution was found in a combination of the right recipe of the synthetic resin with the spreading material – in the colour OMA envisaged. The spreading material is very important for the roughness of the floor, and must be hard, durable and abrasion resistant. A sufficiently rough floor prevents the occurrence of unsafe situations at the square. Bolidt first made a test surface to demonstrate in practice that the Boligrip finishing met all the architect’s requirements. The contractor made extra gutters in the floor for the removal of excess water.

Synthetic resin for concrete

To create as little nuisance as possible for the users and visitors of the square, Bolidt’s specialised application teams applied the floor finishing in the shortest possible time frame. The choice to provide the concrete floor with the Boligrip^® system to maximise the conditions of use fits splendidly with the mission and vision of Bolidt, leading to the most important result: a safely accessible square for bikers and pedestrians!