Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom

At a glance

Project by: Egide Meertens Architecten
Location: Zichen-Zussen-Bolder, Belgium

Preview image

Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom (Egide Meertens Architecten)

© Philippe van Gelooven

Project images

	Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom © Philippe van Gelooven View project image
	Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom © Philippe van Gelooven View project image
	Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom © Philippe van Gelooven View project image
	Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom © Philippe van Gelooven View project image
	Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom © Philippe van Gelooven View project image
	Social Housing Kleine Landeigendom © Philippe van Gelooven View project image

Architect's statement

According to Flemish standards, the small village of Zichen-Zussen-Bolder is situated far away from everything considered as urban. Given its location on the edge of Flanders, less than a kilometre from the Netherlands and Wallonia, Zichen-Zussen-Bolder exudes an atmosphere of "the last village".

A second and now the last of three series of social owner-occupier properties have been built on a housing estate just outside the village centre. In the urban development model, the housing estate looks like a kind of bypass loop linked to an existing connecting road. CV Kleine Landeigendom, a cooperative association, bought a plot in the bend of the sloping Burgemeester Dewalquestraat on the other side of the street behind rolling fields crossed by a paved road.

The clients immediately approved of the first typological proposal. The nine houses – one of which on a separate plot – were linked to each other in an obtuse angle. By breaking through the row of the bend, a passageway to the footpath behind was possible which opens up to the garden sheds. This led to two rectangular rows of houses. In addition, this link resulted in two additional houses being built than was planned which could be constructed more cheaply.

This formal linking system easily compensates for the difference in level on the plot. The notched row could be constructed either straight or terraced. Moreover, this configuration is just as open as the semi-open or open construction found in the rest of the district. The built surface, which would otherwise get lost in the open rows between the construction, is in this case compensated by savings in height. In this way, half the row of houses was limited to ground-floor level and no screen of façades was required. From the highest point in the street, the whole construction looks like a plinth for the landscape behind.

Due to the consistent use of materials - fired facing brick and wooden outer joinery work - the project seems to be a coherent whole that has settled in the landscape. A simple wooden garden shed was designed for every house and placed at the back of the garden. In this way, the back of the estate, where the paved road runs, takes on a uniform appearance.

The model plans were not a strict translation of the stringent standards of the Flemish Housing Association. The design of the kitchen was a good size. The living area is a roomy, sunny room with a wide expanse of glass at the front and back so that the obligatory limited height did not make the space too dark. It is no where obvious that this project has been built according to social housing standards. Everything was carefully designed and executed in terms of materials and details. No use was made of lesser quality materials or standard solutions. The care taken with this project is perhaps its greatest charm and a valuable trend in the image of social housing.