Building partners join hands to solve housing shortage

A NICE HOME FOR EVERYONE

Solving the housing shortage in a responsible way. According to that ambition, MOOS was founded five years ago. The newcomer to the market of conceptual builders provides fully dismountable sustainable homes for the social and middle rental segment that are delivered ready to use in a short time, including bathroom, kitchen and installations. The homes offer an infinite variety of layouts and sizes and have the life span of a standard home, but are also fully demountable. Regardless of whether the house is there for fifty or five years.

Industrial production according to a modular system

The modules of the MOOS homes are made of CLT and circular concrete and are self-supporting. By using a lot of glass at the front and back, daylight penetrates deep into the house. In addition, a wide range of floor plans is possible, from 22 to 110 m2. The modules can be built up to eight layers high as a gallery and up to eighteen layers as a tower. Here the feeling of a container house is not at all an issue. The comfortable modules have a warm appearance and are made of renewable and demountable materials. With a maximum share of bio-based materials, CO2 emissions are reduced and stored. 

MOOS buildings are of a permanent quality, but always fully detachable and relocatable. When clean, the robust elements can be detached and reused and/or recycled. Because the modules are basically the same, different projects can be combined again and again to create a new building. 

Circular and reuse

VIANEN has been involved in the MOOS concept since its inception. “We were asked to think along with several other partners about the concept,” says director Oene Wassenaar. “These partners produce the semi-finished products in their own factories, then together they assemble a complete house in one day in the MOOS assembly line.” What immediately appealed to Wassenaar was a number of preconditions. First, he mentions the application of the best materials, starting from as much biobased as possible. “But also the best quality, so that the houses still retain their value after 5, 20 or 50 years. All this with one goal: to solve the housing shortage in a responsible way.”

Climate Frame

VIANEN is providing the complete hsb wall elements with frames on the front and back of the modules and non-load-bearing interior walls. “We immediately saw an opportunity for our new Climate Frame,” says Wassenaar. “After all, this window frame is maintenance-free as well as circular. Thanks to the aluminum exterior finish, painting on the outside is unnecessary.” Colleague and product manager Thijs Baneke complements him. “The Climate Frame is fully demountable and recyclable and is manufactured from sustainable Northern European softwood with FSC certification. Distinctive is a slim detail. Moreover, the Climate Frame is available in all colors to match various architectural styles. The hinges at the windows and window doors are concealed, so not visible. Combined with the use of exterior glazing, the window frame has an extremely sleek appearance on the inside.”

Multiple modules per day

“From our factory in Monfoort, we supply the complete hsb façade elements with built-in Climate frames and interior walls,” Baneke explains. “These elements are mounted almost directly on the modules upon delivery at the MOOS assembly line. Thus, several modules are delivered daily, which are transported to the construction site as complete homes.” 

Long-term cooperation

As a partner of MOOS, VIANEN is responsible for production as well as assembly and delivery. “In doing so, we and the other partners have a shared and equal responsibility for the final product,” said Wassenaar. “Our construction partners are all family businesses that have deliberately chosen a long-term cooperation. That ensures continuity and peace of mind to further develop the concept by trial and error. We work closely together and continuously learn from each other. This is necessary if you manufacture the module according to a tight schedule, with several parties on the production line. VIANEN invested a lot in this project, but we also got a lot in return. By assembling ourselves, we are learning to optimize the products further and further, which also benefits other projects.”

In recent years, several MOOS projects have been completed, such as MOOS Euterpe. This very first project by MOOS concerns a social housing project in Maasland. In cooperation with Wonen Midden-Delfland and the municipality of Midden-Delfland, MOOS realized thirty housing units in 2023. In Amsterdam-Noord, housing corporation Ymere and MOOS realized 63 sustainable flex homes on the Appelweg at a temporary location and within ten months, and in Amstelveen, 97 homes were realized in cooperation with Eigen Haard and the municipality of Amstelveen. More projects are in progress or on the way!