The VDL bus factory in Heerenveen is switching to produce prefabricated bathrooms, lavatories and other ready-to-use building elements for construction company Van Wijnen.

The 150 workers at the plant will all be retrained and no jobs are said to be at risk, the company said on Thursday.

Van Wijnen and VDL have been working on the plans since last summer. Van Wijnen is already building a huge factory in Heerenveen where prefab houses will be built at speed and VDL will focus on the interiors.

‘This collaboration with VDL is the next step towards far-reaching industrialisation of construction,’ said Van Wijnen chief executive Peter Hutten. ‘VDL’s expertise in  VDL, automation and robotisation wil be used to produce parts for our future-proof and affordable homes.’

The plant will continue to produce buses, but production will be moved gradually to other VDL plans in Venlo and Valkenswaard.