On a 30 minute drive from Amsterdam lies the region of Oosterwold, a rural area just outside of the city borders of Almere. Oosterwold provides the unique possibility of creating your own dream home on a self-chosen plot of land. Future inhabitants are obliged to arrange everything themselves, from building (and naming) roads to sustainable sewage systems and other green solutions.
HOP has been involved from the start to make the design, provide advice in the field of sustainability, take care of the necessary permits, and steer the construction process in the right direction. The house measures approximately 130m2 placed on a 2000m2 plot of land.
One with the environment
To make sure the house limits its visual impact on the site the silhouette is softened by slightly tilting the walls of the first floor and by materialising the exterior in a way that will make the house blend in with it surroundings.
Open spaces and intimate spaces
The interior space consists of multiple voids connecting the private spaces with the kitchen, dining and living areas on the ground floor.
The client's dream was to live a much more self-sufficient life than they used to do. They are harvesting fruit and vegetables that they've grown themselves and one of them also has a beekeepers license. Self-sufficient living also includes solar panels, a heat pump, a heat recovery system and a sustainable sewage system with a helophyte filter.
Photos by Michael Cerrone