For the Woonhaven Berchem project, OSQB conducted the structural analysis for a mixed-use residential development created by Woonhaven and designed by Collectief Noord Architecten.

The project includes a corner building with affordable housing and an underground parking garage, a gatehouse with additional residential units, a cluster of senior housing units, and a daycare center. The project will provide a total of 33 affordable housing units and a daycare facility for 108 children.

The structural engineering task involved designing an efficient load-bearing structure for the various building typologies within the project. For the multi-story corner building, a concrete structure with precast floors, load-bearing facades, and partition walls was chosen, supplemented by stair and elevator cores as stabilizing elements. The underground parking garage was designed as a watertight concrete basin, with particular attention paid to excavation safety and the impact on adjacent buildings.

For the senior housing units, a lightweight load-bearing structure was designed using timber-frame construction with laminated wood beams, reusing existing foundations where possible. The gatehouse was designed as a compact concrete structure with precast floor slabs and a beam-and-column system at the open passageway.

Due to the combination of different construction systems, an underground parking garage, and the integration of sustainable technologies such as geothermal energy storage, this project presented a challenging exercise in structural stability, with a focus on structural efficiency, feasibility, and forward-looking sustainability.