House of Inspiration as capstone of New Crooswijk

Over the past sixteen years, New Crooswijk has appeared in the north of Rotterdam; a green urban neighborhood for a diversity of residents. The buildings are of a high standard and all different. A varied housing offer emerged with a choice of styles. The House of Inspiration connects the dots. This building block consists of 53 spacious town houses with a high-quality finish. It is a beautiful finale to this area development.

With the arrival of the House of Inspiration, a higher segment was added to New Crooswijk. The homes have an area of no less than 150 to 245 square meters, three to six bedrooms, one or two bathrooms and a spacious backyard. With a ceiling height of three meters, the inside looks even more luxurious. Almost all homes have two parking spaces in the nearby parking garage. In addition to a spacious backyard, the homes also have a shared courtyard garden. There is no shortage of greenery in the area.

"The future residents had even more freedom in making choices than with the other homes in the district," says ERA Contour director Job van Zomeren. TBI company ERA Contour developed the urban area together with Heijmans and was the builder of the project. "Buyers had a choice of Comfort or Style layout. They could then choose from a number of predetermined layouts. There was also a Deluxe route. This allowed residents to decide on the layout with the interior designer. Quite a few people chose that and they had freedom in the floor plan."

Special masonry

Individual villas Van Zomeren calls the attached homes in the House of Inspiration. "A very special feature about the houses are the facades. These consist of masonry that the craftsmen have worked on with a lot of love. They are really proud to have been able to make this. It is an intricate piece of masonry and it shows." In terms of the facades, the buyers had no free choice. The type of bricks and masonry were predetermined. This ensures that the homes blend nicely into the green surroundings. At image-defining locations came special homes, the specials, with a distinct architectural facade and a special layout.

Fascinating period

In 2004, the New Crooswijk Master Plan was presented. It involved a total of 1,800 new homes. The 53 homes of the House of Inspiration are the final piece. Now that these homes have all been sold and delivered, the Nieuw Crooswijk project is complete. "For ERA Contour it has been a very exciting period. After all, we entered the crisis in 2008, but the development of the neighborhood continued as usual. We have been working on that continuously and we are proud of that. It involves a great variety of housing, from rental to for sale. We are pleased that all parties have made an effort and got it done," Van Zomeren said.