Sustainable New Clubhouse for AFC

Sportpark Goed Genoeg in Amsterdam is the home of the AFC football club. Due to the construction of a new residential area, the park had to be relocated slightly. This presented an excellent opportunity to replace the sixty-year-old clubhouse with a new, sustainable building that fully meets the Nearly Zero Energy Building (BENG) requirements. The five football pitches are now situated side by side along the A10 highway.

The old AFC clubhouse has been demolished, and a brand new clubhouse has been erected just a stone’s throw away. Marius van Nieuwenhuizen from Lavita Bouwadvies en Begeleiding was closely involved as a site supervisor. “Even though this was a relatively small project and the building appeared to be simple,” he says, “it was quite an intensive project. There were various challenges in terms of construction and setup. Any project in Amsterdam begins with the driving of piles, in this case, 218. After that, everything needed to be buried underground, including the sewage system and other piping. Because no crawl space was provided, everything had to be done perfectly the first time, as access later on would be impossible without major disruption.”

Twenty Changing Rooms

“The clubhouse is accessible from all four sides and provides direct access to the main pitch,” Van Nieuwenhuizen describes. “The ground floor is at street level and houses the twenty changing rooms, a physiotherapy practice, massage rooms, and so on. On the first floor, there is a bar, conference room, canteen, various boardrooms, a press room, a professional kitchen, and a large terrace on three sides. The terrace on the side of the main pitch features an enormous canopy made of laminated wooden beams that covers both the terrace and the stand below. There are also partial stands at the ends of the building.”

Addressing Tasks 

The new clubhouse fully complies with the BENG requirements. All necessary electricity is generated by solar panels on the roof. The heating network from the Zuidas is the source for heating, hot water, and separate cooling. The client for the building was the PMB of the Municipality of Amsterdam. The design is by Paul de Ruiter Architects, and contractor HSB Bouw took on the construction of the clubhouse and the stands around the new main pitch. 

NL Bouwmeesters was responsible for the project management and hired Van Nieuwenhuizen as the supervisor to oversee the work on the construction site. “I always say: I start in my boots under the pile driver and end up in my smart shoes on the high-pile carpet,” Van Nieuwenhuizen says with a laugh. “The work involved a variety of different tasks. At the start of the project, for instance, it involved measuring the piles and inspecting the reinforcement of the foundation beams and floors. I regularly went through the building to monitor quality and document everything. I made extensive use of Ed Controls for various tasks, including revisions, overview and detail photos, tickets to address tasks, audits, and more. The entire project has been documented, including for the purpose of making BENG calculations. Now that the Quality Assurance Act is a reality, it also requires the documentation of every step in a construction process. With Ed Controls, that’s all possible, which is ideal.”

Construction Site Euro Pool  

AFC is now happily using the new clubhouse, which was completed in 2021. Van Nieuwenhuizen is currently working on projects in Leiden and Amsterdam. “With the guys from the construction site in Leiden, I’m going to sign up for the Dutchview Euro Pool. I’m not a huge football fan, but if I’m at home, I’ll definitely watch. What do I expect? If they’re in good form and there’s a sense of camaraderie, Oranje has the potential to go far. If I had to guess, I’d say they’ll make it to the final four.”