IPHA Technical Seminar 2023 – Amsterdam

Over the last 24 years, IPHA has regularly held a Technical Seminar as a means for members to explore new ideas and share knowledge. On 12-13 October, IPHA’s 14th Technical Seminar was held in the Hotel Van der Valk A4, only a few kilometres from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam – Netherlands.

The theme for this year’s seminar was “Re-Use of Hollowcore Slabs”. 55 delegates from 17 different countries participated, exploring and learning about the re-use of hollowcore slabs.

On Thursday morning, the delegates were able to visit a site where the circular dismantling of an office building nominated for demolition by the Port of Amsterdam is taking place. This comparatively new and well-maintained building currently sits in the Port of Amsterdam’s safety zone. However, with the port scaling-up production and use of hydrogen and biofuels to meet demand for renewable energy across the Netherlands, the safety zone needs to expand, the office must be dismantled, and the materials will be re-used in a new building. In this way, our delegates were able to see the re-use of hollowcore slabs first hand and in practice.

Thursday’s schedule continued after lunch with the opening of the seminar by our President, Seamus McKeague. Thereafter, Wim Jansze, President of Technical Committee, took over and lead the seminar excellently for the two following days.The first keynote speaker was Peter Musters, who had an interesting speech around the topic; Hollowcore flooring in circular construction.

Secondly, Aren van de Beek, Program Manager Circular Economy at demolition and reassembly company Lagemaat (the company demolishing the building on the site visited in the morning) gave a presentation regarding Remolition of buildings including hollowcore flooring.

Then it was time for the first of four workshop discussions, where Wim Jansze had split up the delegates into 7 groups, and all the delegates were introduced to the workshop format.

Finally, it was time for the last keynote speaker of the day; with Thijs Lambrechts presenting on Design for re-assembly.

The first day of the seminar ended with the second workshop, with the given topic for discussion; How does circular construction change our product features?

During the evening, a private dinner was arranged for all of the delegates in one of the hotel’s restaurants. Good food was enjoyed in a warm atmosphere around the several tables.

Friday morning began with the first keynote speaker of the day; Marcel Vullings, who spoke about Codes with re-used elements and elements with alternative binders, and this was followed up by Ton van Beek with Protocol re-use of hollowcore slabs.

After the keynote speakers, it was time for Friday’s first workshop, where the topic to be discussed was; Circular economy: an Opportunity or Threat? What Weakness should we improve? Following a short break, the conference continued with Designing and adapting re-used hollowcore slabs for buildings by Hans van Steen, and then Case Upcycle Mall by Thies van der Wal.

During the afternoon, Ronald Klein-Holte was the last of the keynote speakers with the theme; The future role of the structural engineer in hollowcore design. The two-day long seminar came to a conclusion following the fourth workshop, which discussed the question; What will circular construction do with the Product Life of our hollowcore slab?

After the workshop, Wim Jansze and IPHA’s Executive Director, Kjell-Ole Gjestemoen, thanked all delegates for their participation and contribution during the two days in Amsterdam. The seminar’s focus on codes, designs and protocols will help the hollowcore industry become an important part of the wider move towards circular and sustainable construction.

Participation in the Technical Seminar was open and free to all IPHA members, and all presentations from the keynote speakers are now available to members via the Knowledge Center on the IPHA website.