A completely different world
They have been working at Laudy for a quarter of a century: restoration bricklayer Ralph Kluijt and restoration carpenter Paul Feijer. In 2025, they worked on projects such as the Calvariënberg Monastery in Maastricht. While preserving the past, this building from 1628 is being transformed into a contemporary residential complex with 123 studios.
Paul: “Restoration is a completely different world from new construction. We do that as well, but that’s mainly straightforward work. Restoration is all about traditional craftsmanship. It often comes down to millimetre precision, and you have to have that in your fingers. Here in the monastery, for me it’s specifically about the woodwork: restoring gutters, windows and frames, and replacing parts of trusses and floors. There’s a whole thought process behind it. That's what I like about it. Taking everything into account, trying to restore the old as faithfully as possible."
Ralph: “You often have to carry out specialised work. Making things you would normally never make. Such as dates applied to a centuries-old façade that are half hanging off. You roughen the surface and then use anchors and repair mortar. But we also use modern techniques. For example, at the city wall De Vijf Koppen in Maastricht. There we fitted all 2,500 stones with a QR code, so that we knew exactly where to put them back."
Paul: “Within Laudy's Restoration team, we have a great group of skilled professionals. We share most of our knowledge with each other, for example about old jointing techniques. There are few young people entering the trade. Hopefully the trade doesn't die out. It is a specialism, so perhaps a different way of rewarding the work would make it more attractive to young people. We draw attention to the craft by opening up projects on Open Monument Day and Construction Day. We also give guided tours to schools.”
Ralph: “Without restorers, all those beautiful old buildings will eventually be lost. That would be a shame, because that's exactly why I love Maastricht so much. It is the second monument city in the Netherlands, with 5,100 monuments. So for the time being, we still have plenty to do here. My favourite restoration project was the most difficult: Montfort Castle near Roermond. We had to reinstall cross vaults there. At first it didn't work, but then we came up with a way to make it possible. That’s so satisfying."
Paul: “I thought the Walloon Church in Maastricht was a great project. But the Glaspaleis in Heerlen as well. It’s a building from 1933, so 200 years younger than the church. Still a listed monument, and really interesting to work on with all that glass and concrete. It says a lot about the versatility of our work. It's one of the reasons we've been working here for so long."
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