co-living Oosterwold

Bosveld, a self-sufficient community in a co-living 9-unit customisable prefab structure yb bureau SLA, Almere, 2016 first residents of Bosveld, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA, Almere, 2016

Freeland, MVRDV’s urban planning concept for Almere Oosterwold, Venice Biennale, 2012 The rules of Oosterwold

Mockup of co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA construction of co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA, Almere, 2016 Leaflet of window frames for co-living Oosterwold Customisable facade design with window placement chosen by residents, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA. Almere, 2016 Diagram of facade sections, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA Closeup of timber and glass facade letting in natural lighting, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA 100-metre long sustainable housing with varied facades and large glass panels, co-living Oosterwold, Almere South-facing timber building in full summer bloom, co-living Oosterwold, Almere map of the 100-metre structure and its communal garden, co-living Oosterwold, Alemre Floor plan of each household's customised interior design, co-living Oosterwold, Almere Two residents Linda and Merlijn in their home, co-living Oosterwold, Almere
Bosveld, a self-sufficient community in a co-living 9-unit customisable prefab structure yb bureau SLA, Almere, 2016

co-living Oosterwold

Almere
Bosveld, a co-living community of 9 dwellings

first residents of Bosveld, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA, Almere, 2016

Photo: Paul Cupido

Among the very first residents of Oosterwold were these pioneers.

They wanted to live outside together.
Lots of space inside.
Lots of space outside.

Lots of ambition
Little money

Freeland, MVRDV’s urban planning concept for Almere Oosterwold, Venice Biennale, 2012

A lot was possible in the MVRDV's urban plan

The rules of Oosterwold

A few simple rules

The strategy for lots, good and affordable was:

you make your own interiors
we ensure that’s possible

we invent exteriors
and we keep them simple

Mockup of co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA

This simple

construction of co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA, Almere, 2016

This simple

Leaflet of window frames for co-living Oosterwold

Each household receives seven windows and doors, no more or less

Customisable facade design with window placement chosen by residents, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA. Almere, 2016

You can choose exactly where they go, down to the millimeter

Diagram of facade sections, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA
Closeup of timber and glass facade letting in natural lighting, co-living Oosterwold by bureau SLA
100-metre long sustainable housing with varied facades and large glass panels, co-living Oosterwold, Almere
South-facing timber building in full summer bloom, co-living Oosterwold, Almere
map of the 100-metre structure and its communal garden, co-living Oosterwold, Alemre

There is a communal garden

Floor plan of each household's customised interior design, co-living Oosterwold, Almere

The variety in self-made floor plants is delightful

Two residents Linda and Merlijn in their home, co-living Oosterwold, Almere

Linda & Merlijn

co-living Oosterwold

The 4,300 hectares of Almere Oosterwold, southeast of Almere, are being developed organically. MVRDV’s development plan leaves all initiative to the residents. 15,000 homes are being built in this landscape of pioneers, in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and uses. Each residential or working area is surrounded by a free zone for roads, water, nature and urban agriculture. This creates a patchwork of green initiatives.

The design by bureau SLA and ZakenMaker of nine terraced houses for the self-sufficient community ‘Bosveld’ at the end of the Emile Durkheimweg, was the first building to be realized in this polder. The concept has now been built three times at different locations in Almere Oosterwold. Bosveld is a small community in a 100 meter long building, on a spacious plot of 11,000 m2. The agricultural character of the landscape has been preserved, and the residents grow vegetables and fruit on their land. The wastewater is purified in a helophyte filter and energy is generated by a heat pump and solar panels. The building makes optimal use of the south-facing sun, so that little heating is required in winter. The nine single-storey homes vary in size from 120 to 160 m2 and are raised one meter above ground level, which creates a floating effect. The residents have an elevated view over their shared landscape garden and the surrounding woods.

“Nine Dwellings Oosterwold exemplifies a new kind of architecture that represents ’the end of the ego of the architect, producing monuments to himself” – FRAME magazine, 2019

The strength of the plan lies in the rational, serial application of prefab timber construction elements for floor, roof and wall. These are designed as hollow wooden cassettes, which are filled up after installation with the insulating, biobased material cellulose. The casco forms an exceptionally well-insulated base, the interiors being completed further by the residents themselves. They have been given complete freedom in the layout of each home, and individual, striking choices were made. This results in a rich variegation of different homes within the common bulding. To offer maximum freedom within an efficient building system, the facade has been designed as a game. Each family received a set of seven windows and doors with the plan, which could be placed anywhere in the facade. The space between the frames has been filled with solid sheets of glass without a frame. This creates a calm yet varied facade of over 100 meters long.

Co-living Oosterwold is the winner of the Frame Awards 2019 in the Co-housing Complex of the Year category. In 2018, the project received an honorable mention of the Almere Architecture Prize. The project has been included in the Architecture Yearbook of The Netherlands 2016/2017.

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