Five-star hotel with high sustainability rating

'By choosing a mix of building materials, we were able to reduce costs'

Van Norel Bouwgroep is building the prestigious five-star Hotel Berendonck in Wijchen as part of a construction team. The hotel will rise next to Europe's most sustainable wellness resort and will have the same thousand-and-one-night style. The new hotel will have 103 rooms, two restaurants and several meditation rooms. A tunnel will allow guests to enter the wellness complex.

The same construction team delivered the wellness resort De Thermen Berendonck in April 2019. During the realisation of the thermal baths, there were already plans for a matching five-star hotel, but a conscious decision was made to separate the permit application for the hotel from De Thermen. Meanwhile, construction is in full swing, explains Corné Vreugdenhil, project manager at Van Norel Bouwgroep. "As with the wellness resort, this project was set up as a construction team, with the same architect, constructor and installer. We also work very pleasantly together with the client; there was no tender beforehand."

A mix of materials

Construction is progressing well and the highest point was reached in mid-April 2024. The shell of the hotel consists of hollow walls, full precast concrete walls, sand-lime brick, timber frame construction, wide slab floors and hollow-core slabs. Vreugdenhil: "The shell was initially designed in full precast concrete, but it soon became clear that this was not financially feasible within the available budget. Together with the construction team, we therefore came up with alternatives and eventually a mix of materials was chosen. This did increase the construction time by a month, but the quality remained guaranteed and, at the bottom line, this resulted in substantial cost savings."

BREEAM 'Excellent'

As to be expected from a five-star hotel, it gets a high level of finish. The ambience matches that of the wellness resort with Indian influences. A great deal of attention has also been paid to sound transmission, so that guests will soon be able to stay there in peace and quiet. The hotel will have a 180 m2 presidential suite with its own sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. There will also be 32 suites and 70 luxury rooms. The hotel will be built under BREEAM certification 'Excellent'. This is reflected, among other things, in various sustainable investments, such as solar panels, thermal (seasonal) buffer storage in combination with water/water and air/water heat pumps and a high-quality thermal shell. "The building will be as sustainable as possible, with sustainably generated energy and higher insulation values than required by the Building Decree. Energy-efficient showerheads and toilets will be installed. We buy certain components from specific suppliers who work on the basis of sustainability." But it does not stop there. There are also requirements for the construction site. For instance, showers and lockers must be available. Vreugdenhil: "Furthermore, we obviously keep the building site tidy and, for example, we only point construction lamps at the building site and not at the surroundings. Of course, we are also working next to the wellness resort, which is open as usual. So we also want to minimise inconvenience for visitors. For instance, we used bored piles instead of piles and the radio on the construction site is off." 

Nice reference

Vreugdenhil is proud of the project, which is quite a large project for the construction company in terms of surface area. "I like the fact that we can enter such a large project together as a construction team. The combination of a five-star hotel with BREEAM certification 'Excellent' is of course a fantastically nice reference for us." The completion of Hotel Berendonck is scheduled for January 2025, after which it will open its doors to guests in mid-March.