The Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology is the only institute in the Netherlands to provide highly specialised care, research and education in the area of childhood cancer. All the top research comes together here. The Princess Máxima Center puts the child and family central to its work. That is why the experience of the child lies at the heart of the design of architectural firm LIAG.

The new building is located to the east of the University Medical Center Utrecht. An airbridge, 160 metres long and 5 metres wide, connects the two buildings, thereby providing quick and dry transport for patients from one hospital to the other. Very convenient, as the Princess Máxima Center uses the facilities of the UMC Utrecht, such as children’s ORs and intensive care.

For the construction of the Princess Máxima Center, Lead2Fix delivered VarioShield lead lined plaster panels and VarioShield^XL lead tiles. Muller Afbouw, responsible for all the MS walls, system ceilings and coves, installed these products to make the necessary rooms radiation proof. The department that works with radioactive isotopes was for example fitted with reinforced metal stud walls combined with VarioShield^XL of both 8 mm and 15 mm thickness.

This highly specialised hospital was opened on 5 June 2018.

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Project: Princess Máxima Center, Utrecht
Client: Muller Afbouw, Eindhoven
Products: VarioShield (lead thickness 3 mm), VarioShield^XL (8 mm and 15 mm)

The Imaging Center of the VUmc offers all activities related to medical imaging under one roof. On the first three floors, patients can visit the Radiology and Nuclear Medicine departments which use the latest imaging equipment (including MRI, CT, PET-CT, SPECT-CT, PET-MRI, bucky, ultrasound, transillumination and mammography). Isotopes are created in the basement, whilst the upper floors are used for research and building technology.

The design of the building naturally takes into account the large weight of the equipment and the strict safety requirements related to radiation, vibrations and magnetic fields. Lead2Fix has contributed to this by supplying VarioShieldPlus panels that have been fitted by Muller Afbouw.

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Project: Imaging Center VUmc
Client: Muller Afbouw
Products: VarioShield and VarioShield^Plus
Surface: 1.200 m²

There is no better example to illustrate the advantages of VarioShield lead lined plaster panels than the Alrijne Hospital. Completion company, Boom & Zn. in Rijswijk is working on the x-ray and low care treatments rooms in the Accident and Emergency department there. Jeffrey Boom does not mince words. “I don’t even want to think about getting those huge, heavy, leaden panels through the halls, in the elevator and up to the third floor. It’s happened more than once that I’ve sustained damage during transport or had to correct bent panels during installation. That’s all history now. The practical VarioShield panels remain completely straight and you can push a pallet from the truck to the construction site all alone.” His colleague, Emilio Rodrigues adds, “Avoiding damage is very important with radiation protection equipment. A scratch or a dent and a panel can be rejected.”

No waiting, just working.

Both gentlemen were primarily enthusiastic about the ease and speed in handling the product. Boom relates, “With a panel that’s 2.60 meters long, you need to work with three men; two to position the panel and one to screw it down. That means one man is always waiting! With VarioShield, we can work with two men or alone. No waiting, just working.” The VarioShield^Plus panels are being used in the Alrijne Hospital. Rodrigues: “The overlap really saves a lot of time. Measuring, cutting and sticking horizontal strips is no longer necessary. And each handmade strip has a chance of leakage. The VarioShield^Plus overlap is immediately radiation proof.”

More profit

Working with the lead lined plaster panels of Lead2Fix truly increases profits. Exactly how much, Boom can’t say. “But it’s a question of adding things up: simplified logistics, negligible product damage, fewer hands needed, a faster work pace and they’re ideal in situations where you have to take the environment into account. Especially at a hospital such as Alrijne Leiderdorp.”

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Project: A&E Alrijne Hospital, Leiderdorp
Client: Boom & Zn.
Products: VarioShield^Plus, corner solutions, wall sockets, all plumbing, incl. water pipes and drainpipes, drains, and all fittings.