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At Van Sijpesteijnkade in Utrecht, near Utrecht Central Station, the residential tower De Syp (Westflank North phase 3A) has been completed. The adjacent residential buildings of phases 3B and 3C are currently under construction. The ground floors of these buildings will consist of commercial spaces. The De Syp tower contains 267 apartments and reaches a height of 90 meters, making it one of the tallest residential buildings in the city of Utrecht.
A unique feature of this complex is that the tower was built over the existing monumental building at Van Sijpesteijnkade number 25. Between the De Syp tower and the SKU, the office building Central Park is currently being constructed. This office building will also reach a height of 90 meters.
The complex borders directly on the Forum, an elevated urban square with a five-level underground parking garage, delivery zone, and bus traffic beneath it. The project is characterized by its high ambitions in terms of building physics, acoustics, and especially fire safety.
Regarding fire safety, a key consideration is that both the De Syp residential tower and the Central Park office building are 90 meters tall. This means the floor level of the highest occupied area exceeds the “70-meter threshold” but remains below the so-called “200-meter threshold.”
For both the residential tower De Syp and the office building Central Park, a Fire Safety Master Plan was developed, outlining the provisions that ensure a fire safety level at least equivalent to the standards described in the Dutch Building Code (Bouwbesluit). From the start of the design process through to completion, Peutz has been involved as an integrated advisor for wind climate, building physics, acoustics, and fire safety in the Westflank Utrecht project.
In addition to the Fire Safety Master Plan, various studies and calculations were carried out for the complex, covering aspects such as EPC (Energy Performance Coefficient), room acoustics, façade sound insulation, daylight access, floating screeds, and noise from technical installations, among others.
The wind climate around the complex was analyzed using Peutz’s atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel, with specific attention given to the Forum, Van Sijpesteijnkade, and the building entrances (see image below). A wind tunnel study was also conducted to determine the expected extreme fluctuating wind pressures on the De Syp residential tower and the Central Park office tower, as well as the forces and moments acting on the main load-bearing structure.
Additionally, a tracer gas wind tunnel study was performed to assess the impact of the mechanical exhaust systems of the parking garage and the air handling units (AHUs) serving the apartments on air quality. The goal of this study was to determine whether the air quality near the apartments in the residential tower would be acceptable.
