Komfort – a partnership of Ballast Nedam, Strukton, John Laing, ISS, Karres en Brands and Meyer en Van Schooten Architects – has been selected for the last phase in the European tender for the construction and management of the Kromhout Army Base in Utrecht. This reduced the number of bidders from five to three.

The Dutch MOD tendered the project as a PPS (Public-Private Partnership) in accordance with the procedure of the competition-focused dialogue. This tendering method enables market parties to include innovative solutions with added value in their bid and enter into a dialogue regarding their solutions with the client. this is expected to contribute to realising high-quality, affordable housing on the Kromhout Army Base premises. The design and construction, as well as maintenance and facility management, will be carried out and financed by the winning consortium for a 25-year period.

Komfort has now been invited to further detail its initial design ideas and project vision together with the MOD. The next few months will be used to convert the mass studies into preliminary designs. Also the so-called DBFMO agreement (Design, Build, Finance, Maintain and Operate) will be discussed.
The final bids will be submitted in January 2008 and the MOD will proceed to preliminary selection of the winning consortium in March 2008.

The required new construction of the Kromhout Army Base should be ready for the CLAS (Commando Land Forces) department and other staff departments and divisions of the MOD to move in by the beginning of 2010.