A complete roof and facade refurbishment has transformed Almere Centrum railway station into a commuter space full of natural light.
Almere, The Netherlands
Together with the contractor West BV, who specialises in maintenance and sustainability, VELUX Commercial has taken part in renewing the train station, located near the lively city of Amsterdam.
VELUX Commercial has provided and installed all roof glazing for this large refurbishment project, including structural glazing systems and dome rooflights. Aluminium structural replacements now support a new tailor-made glass roof system and panoramic glass elevators deliver bird’s-eye views of retail outlets. A lick of red paint was also given to steel frames that support the railway station’s infrastructure. Commuters can now shop underneath the glow of natural light before moving on to their next destination.
A greener station ProRail, who is the client of the project, had an ambition to make Almere Centrum the greenest railway station in the Netherlands. Therefore, a total of 1,238 roof solar panels were installed. The installations include built-in photo voltaic cells (BIPV), which have been integrated in the sloping glass panel facades. It is estimated that approximately 387 kWh of energy will be generated in total from these installations. Products used in the project Opaque domes have been replaced with 125 clear VELUX Commercial Dome Rooflights, enabling more natural light to enter the building. Besides installation of domes, tailor-made structural glazing systems have replaced old panels. Roughly 2,621 glass panels have been used and in approximately 600 of them, photo voltaic cells were integrated. Watch the two videos (English subtitles), where Installation & Engineering Manager for VELUX Commercial John Mocking explains how they carried out the installation work and met the requirements for a green station and glass to withstand strong wind forces.