About five times a year a first weld is made in a new aluminium yacht at K&M Yachtbuilders for another happy customer. But last Thursday we were the happy customer. The first pile was driven for our new business premises.
It took about an hour and a half to drive 14 piles into the ground at Stienplaat 7 in Makkum, the Netherlands. The conversion, most of which is taking place indoors, is needed because we have expanded rapidly during the last few years, in terms of both orders for custom-built yachts and personnel.
Once the conversion has been completed there will be a central foyer on the ground floor, surrounded by all the offices. An open interior will be created by using a lot of glass partitions, low walls of no more than 1.60 m in height and a long passage connecting the various offices, almost like a jetty. The wooden floors and wall furniture give the premises a nautical accent.
Eeuwe Kooi (owner) explains: “We started Kooi Makkum in these premises nearly 14 years ago. Fairly soon after that we had the opportunity to take over our neighbour’s business, which built aluminium hulls. Since then there haven’t been any major adjustments or enlargements of the offices and workplaces, even though we have gone up from 2 to almost 30 employees. Also, a new, fresh and modern office is better in keeping with the kind of boats that we build and our customers.
The facade of the building is also being tackled. Our new logo will be reflected in the protruding facade in distilled form. A lot of wood will also be used on the outside of the building in combination with aluminium, clearly signifying the vessels built here.
Hans Achterbosch Architectuur of Leeuwarden provided the design, which is being put into practice by Bouwbedrijf Johan Dijkstra of Workum.
The conversion is expected to be completed at the beginning of the summer.
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