One last look inside a completely stripped-down Gemini-Zuid

When the first employees walk onto the construction site to take a look inside Gemini-Zuid, there is still plenty of noise. It is coming from the removal of the screed floors, the last task that needs to be completed before the facades are also removed.

At exactly 15:00, however, it falls silent, because it is then the turn of around a hundred employees from Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering to enter the building. They get to see Gemini-Zuid at its most stripped-down, right between demolition and reconstruction.

Starting at 4 a.m.

A lot of work has gone into stripping the building down this far, says project manager at Campus & Facilities Stan Roijmans. “We started preparations in April.”

“We continued throughout the summer, even during the construction shutdown. On hot days, the construction workers started around 4 or 5 a.m. Now, only the floors remain, and then phase one will be complete.”

Asbestos removal

Only the concrete structure remains. In total, approximately 21,000 square meters of floor area have been demolished. There was a lot of asbestos in the ceilings, Roijmans says. It was a significant expense: “Almost half of all demolition costs went toward asbestos removal.”

Once the new facades are ready, the old facades can be removed. Then construction begins.

Amazed

Most of the employees who came to take a look on Tuesday are amazed by the building’s huge open spaces. They will not stay that way, however, as offices and laboratories will be built again.

As they look around, most are not yet thinking much about what the building will eventually look like. Instead, they are mainly looking back: “Look, that was my office!”

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.