The silent monuments without a voice, Jan-Hylke de Jong calls them: large ones (150 units, ed.) that stand empty, that no building owner knows what to do with and are not yet just about to collapse. His idea? "Build housing in them. Especially in these times of grid congestion, the business case is ironclad."
He is not a monument hugger, but as a small child he was mesmerized by those old station buildings and special mills. And speaking of mills. Someone who converts or converts a monument into housing might have to have had a hit of the mill.
And yet Jan-Hylke de Jong, director and founder of Fenicks, a data company that has up-to-date maintenance data on thousands of monuments in the Netherlands, takes a slightly different view of these larger monuments in particular. He sees opportunities rather than obstacles. No old stuff, but a building as storyteller, from church to old shed.
The Netherlands has more than 170,000 monuments. On average, they are doing quite well, but if you look further than your monument nose is long, it is mainly the larger ones that are empty. And not only that. They are squeaking and creaking. De Jong can even make a top 10 of monuments that are about to collapse.
An eternal shame, De Jong believes, and if you ask him, Dutch builders and developers should do everything they can to cherish this cultural heritage. He is well aware that it is not easy to breathe new life into a vacant moment, as it often involves high costs. Potential re-allocators also come up against all sorts of rules and regulations, and owners often prefer to get rid of these so-called storytelling buildings.
No monument hugger
De Jong has unique data at his disposal. With his company Fenicks, he makes scans of monuments throughout the Netherlands and maps the state of maintenance, along with the buildings' corresponding energy performance. "We have about eighty percent in the picture," he says in the latest episode of the podcast Bureau Stoer "The voice of silent monuments.
He calls on 'house-building' Netherlands to take another good look at the potential of empty monuments. In the largest ones, he says, there is room for at least 25,000 homes.
"Especially in a time of grid congestion, it pays to convert monuments into homes," De Jong argues. "Our research is not yet complete, but I would venture the proposition that at least half of the large monuments that are vacant (about 150, together accounting for perhaps 25,000 homes, ed.) have a connection to the grid, even though they are not currently being used."
Scene for a horror movie
Where he sees opportunities, he sees developers and municipalities struggling with monuments. As an example, he cites Katoenveem, a large, old cotton warehouse in Rotterdam. Every effort must be made in the coming years to prevent this building from further deteriorating.
"It is in an area that is hiccuping against the next phase of Area Development and the municipality is struggling with it. If you see the national monument now, it's just a scene for a horror movie, a tip for filmmakers. But the potential is enormous. Or how about those 20 huge monasteries and church complexes in North Brabant and Limburg, hidden behind rows of trees. These are silent monuments without a voice..."
Curious about the whole story of Jan-Hylke de Jong? Then listen to episode 28 of the podcast Bureau Stoer: 'In the silent monuments without a voice you can easily put 25,000 houses'.
