Study visit to the Netherlands and Belgium 22–25 April 2025
Knarrenhof Ridderkerk in Rotterdam
The block with 21 owner-occupied homes, six social housing rentals and a community house surrounding a common yard was completed in 2024. Knarrenhof is a national foundation which has realized 17 housing communities since 2010 in cooperation with older people who want to keep track of each other. Members are offered housing accordingly, in Ridderkerk there were 560 people on the list. The housing has two floors with internal stairs, but you can live only on the ground floor if necessary. Ridderkerk is 45 minutes by public transport from Rotterdam city center in an area with lower land prices, but still just 15 minutes walk to the center of Ridderkerk. Knarrenhof bought the land from the municipality at half the market value, taking into account that Ridderkerk creates social benefit by realizing housing for the elderly and for low-income earners. The social benefit consists of integrating social housing, managed by Wooncompas housing association, but Knarrenhof also applies a price cap on the owner-occupied apartments, which are 20% cheaper than the market. When people are selling, Knarrenhof sets the price and the next person in line is offered to buy. The fact that municipalities sell land at a low price is questioned by private entrepreneurs but as this is permitted in social housing projects, legal trials have not led to any projects being stopped. Knarrenhof’s concept is popular, nationally there is a queue of 55,000 members. Municipalities are also positive as the need for home care is decreasing in areas where Knarrenhof is located and as social housing is being integrated. Links: ↗ ↗
Markthal in Rotterdam
This spectacular market hall is located in the center of the city and was built in 2014 as part of the city’s effort to build iconic buildings to attract both the middle class and tourists to the working-class port city of Rotterdam. The market hall was packed with people and houses a wide selection of shops and restaurants, but apartments have also been built around the entire hall. In the basement there is a large grocery store and parking, as well as a floor for culture where historical remains have been excavated and can be viewed. We mainly visited the Markthal to have lunch – the housing here is not an example of a co-building project and is not affordable, although rental apartments are directed at the middle-oncome segment. Still, it is fascinating to see what free thinking about housing design can mean. Investing in iconic buildings seems to have had a major positive effect on the city’s economy. However, one should be aware that it is a conscious strategy on the part of the city to gentrify the center. In one of our previous research, interviews ten years ago showed that the municipality was striving to reduce the proportion of social housing in Rotterdam from 80% to 60%. Increased tourism was part of this, but also major investments in building apartments in high-rise buildings in the city center and on the piers in the harbor, for the middle and upper middle class. Their hope was that the proportion of the working class and social housing instead would increase in the municipalities around Rotterdam. Links: ↗ ↗
Superuse Studios in Rotterdam
This architectural office has a far-reaching strategy for reuse, circularity and minimal climate footprints. It involves, in order of priority: reuse of entire buildings; harvesting of building materials; design based on such harvesting; dismountable materials; circularity of materials and circular building process. Engineers ensure that constructions using recycled materials are approved. The sustainability goal includes affordability and used materials are often much cheaper than new. We got a presentation about Housing Cooperative Boschgaard – a transformation of a former community center into 19 resident units completed in 2024. The community center was occupied by inhabitants and Superuse collaborated with them, commissioned by a housing coorperation. The process took seven years and not all inhabitants stayed on. They were 10-15 persons at the beginning, only 4 in the middle of the process and then grew to 39 in the end. The housing became affordable, all apartments are social housing with permanent contracts and rents within that framework. The CO2 savings were 70% compared to the current building standard and 84% of all materials were reused while the national average does not exceed 8%. The cooperative is very popular among municipalities but has not yet had a successor. It is easy to do, says Superuse, but there is a radical stamp that scares a little. Links: ↗ ↗
