Duplex route for the eye-catching New Kit

July 2011 – In the Kolenkitbuurt in Amsterdam’s western suburbs lies the leaning ‘New Kit’ tower block. It is 57 metres tall, clad in white stone and stands at an angle of nine degrees to the perpendicular. The apartment building adjacent to the tower and the substructure of the tower itself has affordable apartments and commercial units. The balconies and their fencing are treated with the duplex route, a two-step method of coating involving hot-dip galvanizing by Verzinkerij Heerhugowaard and powder coating by Poedercoating Heerhugowaard.

The Kolenkitbuurt is named after the local church which is known, perhaps irreverently, as the Kolenkit (coal scuttle) due to its architecture. ‘New Kit’ refers pointedly to this church. Even the sloping, angled roof of the tower block is a reference to the local architectural icon. However, whereas it is just the church’s tower that has a sloping roof, the 'New Kit' goes further: the whole building leans even further than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower block leans westward, creating a symbolic bridge with the western garden suburbs. The housing built in the western garden suburbs of Amsterdam in the period of regeneration following the Second World War was the inspiration for the design of the New Kit. The designers of that post-war housing aimed to give residents light and space. These are elements that played a key role in the design of the New Kit. The apartments have full-height windows, through which you can see (if you’re on any of the higher floors...), as far as the sand dunes on the coast.

Galvanizing and powder coating

Joosten Staalbouw of Heerhugowaard is a specialist in the field of producing and installing steel structures. Joosten Staalbouw produced and installed the balcony fences and furniture for the tower block. The fences and furniture, which were galvanized by Verzinkerij Heerhugowaard and powder coated by Poedercoating Heerhugowaard, give the building a pleasing look. The New Kit certainly catches the eye on the skyline of the Kolenkitbuurt.