Composite engineering specialist Solico Engineering, based in Oosterhout, Netherlands, has collaborated with long-term client Holland Composites on materials testing for the new 14,000-square-metre Duplicor façade of The Pulse of Amsterdam, a circular building under construction in the city’s Zuidas business district.

Duplicor combines the free-form design possibilities, low weight, minimal maintenance properties of existing composites with bio-based resins, cost-effectiveness and fire resistance. Solico worked alongside Holland Composites during the development cycle of the new material solution, providing mechanical testing and material characterisation at its in-house test laboratory.

The Pulse façade, designed by MVSA Architects and being installed by façade contractor De Groot & Visser, will incorporate approximately 1,100 of the composite elements, each measuring 3.6 x 3.8 metres. Solico engineers analysed multiple versions of the picture frame-style composite modules that cantilever progressively further outward towards the top of the building. Engineering optimisation of the panel laminates, fixing points to the building structure and mounting details for the integrated solar panels were all enhanced by higher than normal wind loads predicted by scale model wind tunnel testing at specialist Peutz Netherlands.

Solico has now completed the composite engineering for the Pulse façade and is eagerly following the installation phase of the project as the latest new addition to the Amsterdam skyline continues to take shape.

“The testing done for Holland Composites and De Groot & Visser confirms the new Duplicor technology as a unique composite solution,” said Eric van Uden, managing director of Solico and project lead for The Pulse. “We see enormous potential for Duplicor in a wide range of construction applications, as the combination of structural performance, fire properties and cost it offers is something we’ve not seen before in a lightweight composite – let alone a sustainable 100% bio-based one.”

www.solico.com