Enjoy life together - Wickevoort estate
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
Wickevoort estate is a renewed site which unites house owners with nature and with each other. The historical estate is home to healthcare institution Cruquiushoeve, local farm Wickevoort, and many trees, plants and fauna. All new houses are designed with a nature-inclusive and climate-adaptive approach. Different types of houses are added. Residents share facilities. At Wickevoort estate you explore life at its best: social activities, adventure, but also coziness, space and silence.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
Enjoy life together at Wickevoort estate
At Wickevoort estate you experience a limitless sense of landscape and recreation. Hospitality is the key. You become tempted to undertake steps together in an easy way. Explore life at its best: social activities, adventure, but also coziness, space and silence. Nothing is obligatory, the options are immense. That is Wickevoort estate. A renewed site which unites house owners with nature and with each other.
Sharing facilities
Central at the new housing area is homestead Wickevoort. This sustainable farm takes up a special place at the estate. People can lend the farmers a hand or buy biological and sustainable products In the farmshop. The farm is also a spot for activities and parties.
Besides the farm the estate excists of a petting zoo, riding school, a small restaurant and many hiking and cycling routes. And tehre are sharing facilities for cars and equipment.
One part of the estate is the home of healthcare institution Cruquiushoeve. The residents of Cruquiushoeve will share some of their facilities with the new residents at the estate. It will be home for everyone.
Sustainabilty
In Wickevoort you sense the energy. The energy of exploring new things in life. The energy of nature. The energy of a future proof and sustainable residential area. And generating energy with your own zero-energy-house.
At Wickevoort estate its nature first. An essential part of the masterplan is the preservation of existing green, especially trees. All houses and public areas are designed with a nature inclusive approach and special attention for climate adaptation.
Community or private
At Wickevoort estate everyone feels connected with the surrounding space. Expolre nature around your house, tend the gardens, or organise a communal barbecue. There is enough space for both private and social activities.
Social development
Many types of housing are provided in different pricing categories. There is a house for everyone. &
Key objectives for sustainability
Sustainability is indispensable in creating a residential estate in nature. The following items are a few of the main topics in sustainability provided in this area.
Social sustainabilty
Small encounters or planning activities. In Wickevoort estate its all about meeting people, fellow residents, entrepeneurs, visitors, clients of the healtcare institution or... small wildlife. In Wickevoort there is social interaction between all kind of people.
Energy
All new built houses are at leat energy-zero-buildings. For example by using heat pomps and solar panels. These measurements are integrated in the architecture, for a more aesthetic result.
Climate adaption
Rainwater is collected en will be re-used. Pavements will be permeable where possible. The buffering of rain water will help reduce the urban heat effect. In Gardens only a certain amount of pavement is aloud. Fences are not aloud but will be replaced by hedges.
Nature inclusive approach
In all buildings there is nestling space for insects, birds and small mammals. The public space of the estate will stay as natural as possible with local flora and fauna. Most of the trees will be preserved, houses in the masterplan are designed around them.
Materials
All new buildings are built by brick and wood. Materials are circular where possible. All colors are natural so the new buldings fit smoothly in the surrounding nature.
Healthy living
All houses are accesible by car, but roads are as small as possible and parking is arranged covered by green. There are new walking and cycling paths and a riding school. The houses are surrounded by trees and other plants and all houses have private outdoor space. In every way people get stimulated to spend as much time outdoors.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Essential in the masterplan is the experience of the historical landscape character. This typical landscape was designed halfway the 20th century for health institution Cruquiushoeve. Nowadays they are clustered at a small part of the estate. The old structure and landscaping of the estate is the base of the new residential development. Most of the nature will be preserved, especially the trees. . Focus lies on the connection between houses and nature, meeting your neighbors and enjoying the estate. Every house also has a private area, but without fences.
Key objectives for inclusion
Wickevoort is a social estate, an estate for everyone. New residents and clients of the healthcare institute live together in a harmonious way. They share facilities, they both visit the riding school, petting zoo and local farm and they meet in various places on the estate. They use the walking and cycling paths and tend the green together.
The variety of housing types is available for young people and elderly people, for people who rent and people who want to buy, from social housing to luxury villas. From (semi) detached houses to apartment buildings.
In Wickevoort estate its easy to meet your neighbors and to undertake activities together, a small chat in the garden, a barbecue with neigbours or party at the local farm. But nobody is obliged. There is enough private space to enjoy nature and its fauna.
Its even inclusive for the flora and fauna. In the design of the houses there is extra attention for nestling for birds, insects and small mammals.
Results in relation to category
The first new houses are delivered to their new inhabitants only this month. These houses blend very well in their surrounding due to the chosen materials in earthy colors. Sustainable measurements like solar panels, drainpipes and nestling facilities are all integrated in the design.
Because of the preservation of most trees and plants, the wildlife is not affected in a great part of the estate and can continue to develop and grow.
How Citizens benefit
Living on Wickevoort estate involves a special way of living. Residents and entrepeneurs decide the rules of the estate together. Every resident is a member of the management association who take care of the estate together. All public space and (shared) facilities are accesible for the members of the association. But the facilities, like the farm, the riding school and the petting zoo are also accesible for visitors from Cruquius or beyond. The people who live here or visit the estate take part in the community. They proudly talk about their work at the farm, or the birds they see and the characteristics of the estate.
For the residents of the healthcare institute a new chapter arrived. They feel like they are finally party of a community and not closed of from the rest of the world.
Innovative character
Wickevoort landscape is unique in both the social as physical way of living.
The healthcare institution, that has been closed of for years, will be part of the new residential area. By sharing facilities and facilitating social encounters people will be enabled to meet each other without being forced to.
Wickevoort estate will be a social neighborhood but in a unique setting. The old estate landscape with its mature trees facilitates a way of living thats all about exploring nature and the creatures who live in it. the different types of housing all fit in its natural surrounding and with its sustainable approach even contribute to the preservation of the natural character.
