For Wout de Jongh, project development basically revolves around one thing: planning. From the first idea to realization, it is the common thread in his work at Layers.
Because planning is the word that keeps coming back when he talks about projects in which he is involved as a developer. Within Layers there are currently already more than forty, where Wout has Zoetermeer and Pijnacker in his portfolio, among others. Plus Katwijk, where a new project is still in the start-up phase.
From the moment a project reaches the developers through acquisition, it really starts to come alive for Wout and his colleagues. That begins with the research phase. “The first questions you ask with a new location are: What is the zoning plan? What possible? How big is the plot? What is the building envelope? What are the rules on the map and so on.“ Follow-up steps include, among other things, directing architects, selecting contractors,, and drawing up the budget.
‘I have learned an enormous amount here. It is a small team with many projects and that means that you get a lot of responsibility. In this way I quickly grew along with the company. The mentality here fits well with what I find important in life. That is not running away from things, but tackling them and just going for it.’
” Up to the moment of actual completion, a period of at least a year and sometimes a number of years passes, but crucial is that all the steps and small steps are taken at the right moment and in the right order. “I am responsible that the project runs smoothly, that everything is properly directed and all involved parties can get to work on time.”
A puzzle that is quite complicated, because Wout has to deal with so many different parties. “The architect has to put everything properly on the drawings for the builders. And we have to deal with the utility companies that provide, among other things, electricity, water, sewerage and internet. We have to coordinate that tightly with the contractor. If one runs late, the other cannot simply start a week later.”
Intensive contact with all external parties is therefore crucial to keep the ship on course. And that also applies to the consultation within Layers itself. “We also have to communicate very well internally with, among others, our sales team. Checking in with each other weekly to see ‘where are we now, and what still needs to be done to achieve the planning?’”
Wout has not been working at Layers for very long yet, but in that period he has already gone through a steep learning curve. “I have learned an enormous amount here. It is a small team with many projects and that means that you get a lot of responsibility. In this way I quickly grew along with the company. The mentality here fits well with what I find important in life. That is not running away from things, but tackling them and just going for it.”
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‘I have learned an enormous amount here. It is a small team with many projects and that means that you get a lot of responsibility. In this way I quickly grew along with the company. The mentality here fits well with what I find important in life. That is not running away from things, but tackling them and just going for it.’
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