In Ugchelen (municipality of Apeldoorn), a special project is underway. A characteristic elementary school is being transformed into starter homes, while bio-based senior housing is rising on the former schoolyard. This is good building news for the whole of Ugchelen," says Peter van 't Wout, real estate manager at housing corporation De Goede Woning.
Peter, tell us something about the start of this project?
"Before starting, we very consciously considered the housing needs in Ugchelen. With a mix of senior housing and housing for starters, the project responds to the need to continue to live in Ugchelen and to give space to a new generation. So it is a win-win-win situation. The physical launch was in July last year and was a happening that attracted a lot of attention. Alderman Messerschmidt, sitting in the bucket of a telescopic handler, removed the first roof tiles from the school building. That was the visible and symbolic beginning of this sustainable housing project."
What's so special and cheerful about it?
"We are extremely happy with this repurposing because it is a former elementary school. It was built between 1880 and 1885 and has a characteristic appearance. It is not a monument, but it is a picture-perfect building that cannot be left out of the village. Every resident of Ugchelen knows it and is attached to it. The combination of renovation and bio-based new construction makes this project technically and socially interesting. The fact that the project is a combination of starter homes and senior housing makes it extra special. We hope that people will enjoy living there and that beautiful cross connections will arise."
What will actually happen to the old school?
"The school building will be converted into six homes and a studio. Externally, virtually nothing will change about the little school. The external features such as windows will be preserved. Inside, the long corridor will be preserved, but it will be cut through. The resulting sections will each be transformed with a classroom into a starter home. Adding ceilings in the classrooms creates more space. Each house thus has an upper floor with a bathroom and one or two bedrooms. Loggias are made in the sloping roof to create balconies."
And what about senior housing?
"These will be located in the old schoolyard. The ten bio-based new homes will be delivered prefabricated and assembled on site. The roof and walls are made of wood and the builder also uses renewable materials such as straw, hemp and flax. This ensures a comfortable indoor climate. The focus on wood construction is growing, and so is the realization that there is no such thing as waste in construction. We welcome both trends."
Isn't biobased construction much more expensive?"We asked for quotes for a traditional construction and for biobased construction. That saved about a ton and a half. Despite that extra investment, it was a very conscious choice. Biobased construction greatly reduces the ecological footprint and contributes to our ambition to be fully circular by 2050. We are doing this with an eye to the future. We are working more and more on sustainability and then it is an opportunity to carry out such a project as 'clean' as possible. We are a healthy housing corporation and we want to set a good example with this project. We will bear the additional costs ourselves. I do assume that the cost of bio-based materials will go down in the future."
What is your ambition in terms of sustainability?
"We are affiliated with Building Balance, an organization that supports the biobased chain. We recently signed a covenant agreeing that as far as the renovation of our homes is concerned, we ask our partners to come up with biobased scenarios. This does not mean that everything we do will then be done with bio-based materials, but it does mean that we will make a serious effort to increase the percentage. We are going to weigh better and more consciously when biobased is a good alternative."
In terms of throughput, will this mean anything in Ugchelen?
"We have determined that five out of 10 senior housing units will be allocated to seniors who leave single-family homes. We also give temporary rent reductions, because people from single-family or larger rental homes are generally going to pay more if they accept another rental home. Even if that property is smaller. So a temporary rent reduction is also an incentive to make moving on attractive. So yes, more relocations are going to follow from it, and we're happy with that, too."
Is it all going according to plan?
"It was a cold winter with a lot of snow, so several construction projects had work stalled at times. We were fortunately not affected by that. The new building was already under roof and the loggias of the school were closed. So we are on schedule. The first residents are expected to be able to move into their new homes by the summer of 2026."
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The world is bleak enough, so we ask our readers what makes them cheerful. In the Cheery Construction News section, they tell us themselves why a project, a piece of equipment or a way of working excites them. It doesn't matter, as long as it makes even a dreary Tuesday morning a little brighter.
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