1,300 new homes in historic area

On the former site of the Royal Dutch Explosives Factory in Muiden, work is underway to create a new residential area, including a forest, a park and 1,300 homes in a variety of styles.

Text | Tim van Dorsten    Image | Dura Vermeer

The area around the northern Dutch town of Muiden breathes history. This is not only because of the Muiderslot, the Stelling van Amsterdam and the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie defense line; the former Krijgsman polder also housed the Koninklijke Springstoffenfabriek from 1702 to 2001. After the Enschede fireworks disaster in 2000, it was decided to accelerate the remediation of this factory. "That was a difficult remediation," says project developer Marcus Wieringa of KNSF Vastgoed. "That factory belonged to heavy industry in category 5. In addition, we also wanted to preserve as much flora and fauna as possible in the redevelopment."

In fact, the factory stood in a so-called gunpowder forest, with the trees serving as production wood for explosives in the early days. Transport initially took place by horse and draft barge, via the area's three-kilometer-long water structure and the Muidertrekvaart canal. "Partly from a historical perspective, our goal was to preserve the structure, such as the water structure and the six-kilometer production path," Wieringa points out. "This total area is about 72 acres. Of this, about 34 acres will be designated for residential development and 25,000 square meters of commercial and non-commercial buildings for a Broad School and care center, among other things. Nature is also important to us: we will preserve 18 acres of forest and a reed bed and provide a park of about 2.6 acres. To match the development of the plan with the landscape and housing, we used the expertise of landscape architecture firm La4Sale."

Thatched villas.

Different housing styles

A total of 1,300 homes will be built in De Krijgsman. Dura Vermeer is playing an important role in this: on the one hand, the company is supervising the work to prepare the plan area for construction and housing, and on the other hand, Dura Vermeer Bouw Midden West is handling the development, sale and realization of some 500 homes. The construction company started this in 2017. "In the elaboration of the plans for the homes and for the layout of the public area, there is an eye for quality and detail," says André van Keulen, developer at Dura Vermeer. "Each subplan has its own architectural style, as an elaboration of the carefully composed image quality plan for the entire project. This creates a mixed range of housing and residents for this Muiden neighborhood. From the village atmosphere of sub-plan 'De Vestingstad' to living along the new canal. In the former powder forest will be the most striking homes, such as thatched villas and lots on which buyers can realize their own home."

Gasless is now the standard in the development of the current subplans. In consultation with an ecologist, options for nature-inclusive construction have been explored. "Among other things, we are hanging bird boxes to attract more birds," Van Keulen says.

Four more years in development

A third of the homes have now been sold and half are under development. Wieringa hopes to build about 300 homes a year. "This depends on buyers, because 70 percent of the homes must be sold before construction begins," he said. Remarkably, a surprising number of homes have been sold in the past six months. Most of the homes are bought by Amsterdam residents: the biodiversity in this area attracts them tremendously." He expects the area to be fully developed by 2024.

Project info

Aluminum windows, doors and curtain walls in new Muiden homes

What began with a few houses has now grown to nearly 7,500 m² of aluminum windows, doors and curtain walls, which have been ordered for and some of which have already been installed in the houses and apartments of new construction project De Krijgsman in Muiden.

Thanks to previous successful partnerships, Dura Vermeer once again chose the window frames and facade of Polybouw Aluminium for this Muiden project. Delivery will take place in several phases and began just before the 2019 construction period. "All chosen products are engineered in Rijssen and produced in our well-equipped production facility," says project manager Bé de Vries. For now, it concerns 7,389 m² of aluminum windows, doors and curtain walls. The end is not yet in sight. "We expect this project to continue until the construction period of 2021." At the same location, Polybouw Aluminium will also soon provide 20 villas with its products. This will be commissioned by neighboring construction company Lichtenberg.