Collaborating on iconic landmarks

Iconic architecture in Oosteroever, in Oostende

The Ensor Tower I at the Oosteroever site – the first of two residential towers of the same name – gives Oostende a new iconic landmark. The residential tower – designed by El Architects and the Versluys Group – is part of a new trendy urban district in the historic harbour area. The aluminium facade cassettes and rounded corners, finished in a powder coating – (‘Lunar Chrome’) – developed by Axalta especially for this project, lend the site international prestige.

Oosteroever in Oostende is a leading development project on the Belgian coast. This new water-ringed urban district orchestrates perfect harmony between high and low buildings, trendy shops, restaurants, pedestrian promenades, open green zones and tourist attractions.

New York effect

The Ensor Tower is not the first development by the Versluys Group. The vertical lines throughout attractively separate the different residential apartments, while the horizontal accents emphasise the height of the tower. Marie Van Der Meeren, project manager for the finishing aspects of the Ensor Tower I at the Versluys Group, comments, “With 25 floors above the ground, this is the tallest residential tower ever built by the Versluys Group. Both residential towers are carefully positioned to create a ‘New York effect’. Due to the proximity of the sea, all building materials needed to be highly resistant to seawater and sea air. The building has a concrete core insulated with rock wool and clad with customised aluminium facade panels – with rounded corners – and fitted with aesthetic fins of the same material.”

Lunar Chrome

For the surface finish of the aluminium facade cassettes and fins, the client opted for Axalta’s Qualicoat-labelled Alesta? SD powder coatings. SD is the abbreviation for SuperDurable Architectural, a series of solvent and lead-free polyester powder coatings for use on aluminium profiles and panels, among other materials. The preferred choice was a specific glossy smooth chrome look that is Qualicoat Class 2 certified, but also extremely durable, highly resembles the chrome effect and reflects the surrounding buildings in Oosteroever. “The powder coating for the Ensor Tower I was specially developed and produced for this project. It is the result of the shared expertise and teamwork of several European Axalta sites. The initial discussions with the customer on the colour development were initiated in our country, after which our French colleagues further fine-tuned and produced the powder coating in their composition. The coating itself took place in Italy,” explains Valérie Vanhees from Axalta Coating Systems Belgium. “The SD801C7046020 Lunar Chrome has excellent edge coverage. This means that the coating layer is also nice and even on sharp or rounded corners.”

Written by Philip Declercq for Dimension magazine Courtesy of Groep Versluys

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