This project of 10 sustainable homes offers attractive communal living in a green environment, despite being situated at a tense railway junction on the frayed edge of the city.
The project’s name, Moerenburcht, establishes a connection between the nearby Moerenburg landscape park and the urban design concept of the development, which evokes the image of a closed settlement (burcht in Dutch) . This concept forms a logical response to the design challenge: creating an attractive residential environment between two busy railway lines.
The development is located along a remarkable cycling street. The mature trees and green embankments of the elevated rail tracks made the site appealing, yet also somewhat uncanny. With the realization of the project, the area now feels safer and more welcoming.
Through previous collaborations, the client and architects had already set ambitious standards: involving buyers in the planning process, building exclusively energy-neutral homes, and making them adaptable for lifelong living wherever possible. For this project, they introduced co-living as an additional ambition: creating a small community with ample opportunities for social interaction.
This objective was achieved in several ways. The co-creation process turned the buyers into a community even before construction began. The design itself also contributes to this sense of togetherness. The homes are arranged around a shared courtyard. Car and bicycle parking are located at some distance from the houses. Residents collectively own the site, and therefore also share formal responsibility for it.
The architects explored how the urban concept could be expressed in a way that matched both the scale of the surrounding infrastructure and the rural character of the site. The building was approached as a monolith: by cladding both façades and roofs in a single material, a strong architectural gesture was created. The proposal to use reed, a material with low environmental impact and excellent insulating properties, was enthusiastically embraced by the residents. Around the courtyard, the detailing was designed with a human scale in mind.All homes share the same sectional principle. On the quiet inner side, they consist of two storeys. This is where the entrances and kitchens are located, with the bedrooms on the upper floor. On the noise-exposed outer side, the master bedroom on the ground floor adjoins a semi-enclosed outdoor room, required to comply with acoustic regulations. As a result, no noise restrictions apply to the private outdoor terraces. The remainder of this façade had to remain “blind.” This condition was used as an opportunity to enrich all living rooms with generous double-height spaces.
The climate impact of creating and using this buildingis limited. The homes generate their own energy demand and are partially constructed from natural materials. All existing trees were preserved. Rainwater is infiltrated on site without overflow into the public sewer system. The landscape design connects seamlessly to the existing green structures in the surrounding area. With abundant native planting, the site now offers year-round habitat for wildlife.
It is now up to the residents to give meaning to co-living. With plans for a vegetable garden, a communal dining table, and even their own beer brand, that will undoubtedly succeed.
