What seems simple at first glance can sometimes be quite complicated: The Walloon Parliament was to get a new house; a new building that functionally extends the old parliament building. The exterior façade with lots of glass is businesslike, clear and open to the outside. Inside, the rooms are bright and functional. Only 260 columns, which are located throughout the building, loosen up the simple objectivity. It was precisely these columns that presented the floor installers with an unexpected challenge when finishing off the walls to the floor with white aluminum skirting boards.

The Challenging 260 Columns
The picturesque town of Namur is the capital of the Belgian region of Wallonia and the seat of the government and parliament. Despite its modern, linear architecture, the new building for the members of parliament creates a successful transition to the historic buildings around it. With an area of 3,744 m², it provides all 75 Walloon members of parliament and the political groups with suitably equipped work areas. The team of architects has visually softened the objectivity shown on the outside in the interior areas with 260 elegant columns and half-columns.

In addition, white aluminum baseboards create a smooth yet highly durable transition from wall to floor. At first glance, nothing out of the ordinary. But in the search for suitable skirting boards, it turned out that the combination of the required product specifications was quite a challenge for manufacturers: Because to match the RAL 9010 white aluminum skirting boards, the plans called for column rings and half-rings with a diameter of only 30 cm. After a lengthy search, a smart solution was finally found with the profile specialist Küberit, which could also be manufactured at short notice in high quality and in the required quantity.

The Requirments - Bending Without Breaking
Since the skirting boards were to be in a RAL color, Küberit immediately decided on a powder coating. However, it first had to be tested whether already powder-coated Type 911 skirting boards could be bent into 30 cm rings without any loss of quality. The test was successful and the first hurdle was cleared. Now the task was to find a way for easy, safe installation. Küberit's manufacturing specialists decided on two half rings that could be joined together on site to form a column ring. For a neat finish on the half-columns, the team shortened the half-rings slightly so they would fit snugly against the walls. Production was millimeter precision work, because if the curved profiles deviated just a millimeter or two from the specifications, unsightly gaps would result. Since the search for a solution created a tight deadline, Küberit decided to produce the total of 520 column semicircles in its own manufacturing facility. "We can produce special designs here with relatively short notice. This manufacturing cannot be compared with mass production. Traditional craftsmanship is applied here, using practically the same methods as in the past. This requires a high level of expertise and precision," explains Olaf Holtschmidt, responsible for product development at Küberit. Carefully packed, everything arrived undamaged in Namur. On site, the floor installers fitted the half-circles and shortened half-circles with special adhesive. In total, they processed 830 m of skirting boards and 140 shortened half-circles of type 911 in the new House of Representatives and joined 380 half-circles of the same type to form column rings - and everything fitted to the exact millimeter.

Project Information:
Project: New building House of Representatives of the Walloon Parliament, Namur, Belgium
Client: The Walloon Parliament
Architecture: l'Atelier de l'arbre d'Or
Area: 3,774 m² for the House of Parliamentarians and 326 m² for the House of the Presidency.
Construction Period: December 2017 to December 2022

Supplied from the manufacture of Küberit:
- 830 m profile base 911 Powder coated RAL 9010:
- 380 column half rings 911 Powder coated RAL 9010 Ø 30 cm (190 rings)
- 140 column half rings 911 powder coated RAL 9010 Ø 30 cm shortened (70 rings)

Caption:
1. The objectivity shown on the outside of the new Walloon House of Representatives, the team of architects has visually softened the interior areas with 260 delicate columns and half-columns. In addition, white aluminum skirting boards create a smooth yet highly durable transition from wall to floor.
2. To match the RAL 9010 white aluminum skirting boards, the specifications called for column rings and half-columns with a diameter of just 30 cm.
3. Since the search for a solution created a tight deadline, Küberit decided to manufacture the total of 520 column half-rings in its own factory. "We can produce special designs here at relatively short notice. This manufacturing cannot be compared with mass production. Traditional craftsmanship is applied here, practically as it was in the past. This requires a high level of expertise and precision," explains Olaf Holtschmidt, responsible for product development at Küberit.
4. On site, the floor installers fitted the half-circles and shortened half-circles with special adhesive. In total, they processed 830 m of skirting boards and 140 shortened half-circles of type 911 in the new House of Representatives and joined 380 half-circles of the same type to form column rings - and everything fitted to the exact millimeter.