A residential neighborhood of wood surrounded by greenery

Executed entirely in CLT

A special residential neighborhood has emerged in Eindhoven. The homes in Zuiver Bosrijk have a small private outdoor space, but are surrounded by a large public green area. The buildings are made of wood (CLT). "A project of this magnitude was needed to show that you can build qualitatively with wood," he says.

In the municipality of Eindhoven, the construction of Zuiver Bosrijk, in expansion district Meerhoven, has been completed. The project is a collaboration of BPD Gebiedsontwikkeling (developer), BanBouw (main contractor) and Arcon (specialized in structural timber construction and, like BanBouw, part of BanGroep). Ruud Beurskens, senior sales manager at BPD Gebiedsontwikkeling, says: "The urban design concept for Zuiver Bosrijk involved an area with a major role for greenery, with the residential buildings standing like sculptures in the landscape. We won the tender with our design for that, which is special in several ways."

Surrounded by greenery

He continues: "What is special about the design of Pure Forest Kingdom is that we chose to build with wood and for a special way of living. In the greenery there are three buildings with homes inside them, which have limited private outdoor spaces. The private outdoor spaces are about 5×4 meters, big enough for a barbecue and a table to eat with friends. For everything else, a public green area surrounds the buildings. A green perimeter ensures that one cannot walk from the public space into the private space, while having an unobstructed view of greenery from the private space." The public outdoor space will include a faunator and a greenhouse for vegetables, for example, owned jointly by the 32 owners. At the bottom of two of the buildings is a parking garage. "And all that so made of wood," says Beurskens.

Large scale

When the project began - the first plans date from 2020, sales began in July 2021 - building in wood was not yet established. Gijs van Doorn, director of BanGroep, says: "People were building in wood, but not yet on this scale. It was exciting how sales would go, because the sales prices were slightly higher than with traditional construction methods. This gave some buyers the idea that they had to pay a lot for a log cabin, while it was clear to us that we could deliver more quality with this method of construction than with the traditional way. In the end, sales went well. A project of this size was needed to show that you can build quality with wood."

Buyers

Says Beurskens, "When selling, we were aware that these were substantial homes (147 m2 to 218 m2 of living space), with hefty prices (€475,000 to €720,000). Thereby, the only traditional thing was the program in the houses, although there were also particularities like a loft and the living room on the second floor. We emphasized to buyers two strong points: how nice it is to overlook a public green area from your terrace, where your children can play and you don't have to worry, and how nice it is to live in a wooden house. When you walk in, wood immediately feels different from a house made of concrete or stone. Wood never feels cold, people enjoy touching wood." The wood in question is CLT, cross-layer lumber. "The CLT is in sight, we did that on purpose," says Beurskens. "The wood is a quality, so we show that. With a workshop we inspired the buyers about what choices they can make in the interior."

Technical challenges

Bart van der Wijst, business manager at Arcon houtconstructies, says, "Building with wood presented technical challenges. We had few references, so we had to figure out how to comply with the Building Code about fire safety and noise between the houses. We did that together with noise consultants, fire consultants and structural engineers. Regarding the noise between the dwellings, we developed our own acoustic coupler, which transfers the force but not the noise. We are now using that coupler elsewhere." Van Doorn adds: "Rough construction is finishing here. That also resulted in small changes on the construction site. For example, a carpenter is used to marking off the meter level on the wall. But if you do that on a wooden wall that remains in view, you have to work with your eraser afterwards. That's how everyone involved learned during the project." The process of construction is also different, explains Van der Wijst: "Our CLT comes from our regular partner in Austria. The elements have to be fully worked out in a 3D environment, with all the cut-outs already in them. On construction, it is then plug and play. That's a completely different process: in advance, it has to be determined exactly where, for example, wall sockets and lighting should go."

Construction partner first

Beurskens: "As a developer, we learned: if you want to build in wood, you have to start with the building partner, even before the architect. If you have your construction partner, then you know what methodology they use and you can manage the architect better." Van Doorn: "If you collaborate that way on the front end in the design process, then we can compete price-wise with the traditional construction method. If you have an architect with no experience in wood construction design something, then we can make it in wood, but not cost-effectively."

Ambassadors

"Building in wood offers a lot of added value," says Van Doorn. "With wood, you can build more sustainably. Wood is a renewable resource. The wood comes from production forests, which are replanted, so no forests disappear because of timber construction. We are not only builders in wood, but also its ambassadors. We knew: our project has to succeed technically and commercially, to prove that wood construction is the future." Van der Wijst: "With Zuiver Bosrijk, we have a reference to show to developers, architects, structural engineers, contractors and potential buyers. We can show that with wood there is now a new way of building, in addition to the traditional way."