Sustainable apartments on old mavo terrain; flexible housing on the fire station

Before the summer holidays of 2023, the first kick will go into the ground for a sustainable apartment building on the site of the former secondary school in Zwanenburg. There will be sustainable owner-occupied apartments. For the site of the old fire station, the municipality will investigate whether flexible housing can be built.

The apartments are being built by SBB Ontwikkelen en Bouwen (SBB) from Beverwijk. Sixteen medium-priced homes and two apartments in the expensive segment will be built on Dennenlaan, which the company will soon be selling itself.

"Nieuw Hout"
Both the outside and the inside of the apartment building are largely made of wood, which is why the striking building was appropriately named 'Nieuw Hout' ('New Wood'). It stands in the park between the trees, which makes the wooden materials look extra natural. The facade cladding consists mainly of sustainably produced wooden slats.

The building is progressive in climate adaptation. An example: sunken planters will be placed along the facades, which will enrich biodiversity. There will also be nest boxes for birds and bats. A water tank collects rainwater that is used for the green roof and the greenery surrounding the building. When it rains, the rainwater goes into the pond around the building. It is only discharged to the sewerage system in the event of extreme precipitation.

The building and the ground around the building are designed in such a way that people, animals, plants and water are connected. The main stairwell will have full glass facades and a glass roof. Plants will be used as privacy screens between the individual balconies that give a more private feeling in the summer and let more light in in the winter.

Former fire station
The municipality is investigating the construction of flex homes on the Olmenlaan site. No bids were received for the market request for the site where the former fire station is now located. The municipality had devised about seventeen social rental homes. Contractors gave up because of the high raw material prices and a shortage of construction workers. The reasons for this are, among other things, that building materials are more expensive and more difficult to obtain due to the war in Ukraine and high inflation.

Heart of Zwanenburg
With the construction of the homes on Dennenlaan and Olmenlaan, the Hart van Zwanenburg project is in its final phase. Because the new village hall and village square, a sports hall and a new Lidl have already been built.