Tomesen and Bijlard lay and secure almost 1000 m2 of bamboo in Zeist: Investing in the future

The KNVB Campus in Zeist was completed on 1 September, but Tomesen installed the floors, stairs and ceilings prior to that date. 

Zeist has been the footballing hub of the Netherlands for 50 years now. Football is by far the largest sport in the Netherlands, with over a million players.

Over the past few years, there has been an urgent need for more space in preparation for the future. With the construction of the KNVB Campus, there is now a beautiful building where the national teams will soon train, coaches will be educated, referees will be able to work on their arbitration, sports managers will be able to meet up and where injured footballers will be able to rehabilitate.

 

A building that will soon be used very intensively, and will also need to be the KNVB’s calling card, therefore only deserves the highest quality materials, as found in Zeist. In its own words, Tomesen is one of the few parquet companies in the Netherlands to purely and exclusively lay wood rather than laminate or PVC. With 24 employees, most of whom work on the floor or in the company`s own factory, Tomesen focuses on the genuine, traditional laying of parquet flooring. Over the past few years however, Tomesen has grown to become a total supplier, and not just of floors, but also of walls and even ceilings that are prepared in the company`s own factory as much as possible. What’s more, Tomesen often performs the design work for the interior design itself, as well as making the furniture. For the floor section, Tomesen has already been collaborating closely with Dick Heijster of Bijlard International, a supplier of Ankerweld and other products, for some years now, because they believe that both parties strive to achieve the highest quality.

 

To process over 1000 m2 of bamboo, almost 50 buckets of Ankerweld MS polymer were used – and not just for the floors, but also for the stairs to the first floor, which too were clad with vertical grain bamboo. Heijster explains: “We work with various shades of bamboo, which is why the various shades of glue are so appropriate to use. Ankerweld MS-Floor mahogany was used for the darker shades of wood and the natural/oak shade for the light shades. These glues also seal irregularities seamlessly, so they don’t need to be joined using sanding materials. Egaline from Ankerweld was used to smooth the floor.” The floor was finished off using RIGO Royl 2K. In response to the question as to why bamboo was chosen, Wilbert Tomesen is very clear: “The KNVB opted for an ecological and sustainable building, so the finish had to be ecological and sustainable too. One advantage in this case is that both Tomesen and MOSO are PEFC/FSC certified. The fact that bamboo is originally a type of grass is a nice detail. The link between the KNVB, grass and bamboo was soon laid.”

 

Wilbert Tomesen praises the collaboration with Bijlard International. Tomesen has been using the products for three years now, and combined with Dick Heijster’s recommendations, there have never been any problems. “Before we start laying, we always ask whether Dick wants to check the conditions, as nothing is more unpleasant than when the project is completed and the floor bursts apart because we didn’t take care during the preliminary process. And we’ve noticed that’s in good hands at Bijlard.” And it’s not just during the preliminary process that recommendations are welcome. Even when laying wood, Dick keeps his finger on the pulse and can often be found on the floor. During this project, it was important to keep a close eye on the moisture percentage of the anhydrite floor finish, which hasn’t caused any problems. Now that the project has been completed, Tomesen will also continue to maintain the floors and the other woodwork on a regular basis.