DUHA offers not only residential and office buildings, but constructions which are needed across all industries. “We offer everything,” says Managing Director Heike Kestel. “From planning to installation, nearly every step is done in-house. Our aim is to support our customers and create the best for them.”
The company is known for its punctuality, reliability and ability to work to budget. “We deal fairly with our customers,” Mrs. Kestel stresses. “If something will not work out, we say so, and then find alternatives.”
This sense of fairness is integral to the conduct of the company. “We do not offer dumping prices because the subcontractors and suppliers have to make a living, too,” Mrs. Kestel explains. “We are also an asset to developers and investors. We always adhere to the schedules, keeping in direct contact with the examiners in order to prevent delays.”
The company is able to carry out very large projects in a very short time. “Constructing, producing and putting up production halls the size of 1,000 m2 in a couple of weeks is possible without question,” Mrs. Kestel assures.
DUHA is active in all sectors, including food, chemical and automotive industry as well as trader businesses and agriculture. “We are always looking for new fields of activity,” Mrs. Kestel emphasizes. “If the transport costs allow it, we operate nationwide. We delivered special products such as filter nozzle plates to Switzerland and Austria, and have mounted stairs and elevator towers in Denmark and the Netherlands.”
DUHA does not sell standard products but adapts to the needs of its customers. “We want to give them their dream product,” Mrs. Kestel emphasizes. “We can adjust the colour and texture of the surface according to their wishes. And the objects are built for a long period of time. I will not claim that they are built to last, but the Romans already built with concrete, and we always think long-term.”
The company was founded in 1972 by Mrs. Kestel’s father Walter Dulle, who still acts as an advisor. “The experience reaches back even further as the production was originally a division of a construction company,” she remembers. “The site in Haselünne was built gradually. Since 1981 we have high bunkers so that the aggregates are always protected from the weather. And we had our own steel production from the start which allows us to be self-sufficient and flexible.”
She started working for the company in 1998 and together with her husband Uwe Kestel decided to take over the business two years later. Nowadays, 70 employees work for the company which generates annual turnover of ten million EUR.
Since the couple took over DUHA, it has expanded and now boasts new facilities of nearly 1,000 m², including covered production and storage areas, in which sensitive concrete can be kept until it is fully cured.
“In the last ten years we have expanded our experience in the field of special concrete,” Mrs. Kestel reveals. “Now we are able to make high-strength concrete, a knowledge we are able to apply elsewhere, too. We also ventured into the field of refractory concrete and developed construction parts which can withstand very high temperatures.”
But Mrs. Kestel thinks about more than just the practical aspects. “We are also working in the high architectural area. Thanks to new production methods, concrete has gained a better reputation in recent years. Consequently the expectations concerning appearance are higher. We are looking into new possibilities to add colour and texture through the use of matrices.”
The current project should certainly be pleasing to the eye. “At the moment, our team is building a bell tower for a church in Cologne,” Mrs. Kestel reveals. “It is supposed to be put up in two days and constitutes a good example for an up-to-date use of concrete.”
