What does the future of affordable and sustainable housing look like? At Project Pasteur in Haarlem-Schalkwijk, you can already take a walk through it. On Friday, October 2, we welcomed Member of the European Parliament Marit Maij, political assistant Tommy de Bruin, and representatives from the City of Haarlem to show them what modular wood construction is already making possible and to discuss how we can work together to create more opportunities for it.
Marieke Heilbron of Elan Wonen and Jurrian Knijtijzer of Finch Buildings welcomed the group to Elan Wonen’s brand-new office. Representing the municipality were Maarten Wiedemeijer, Alderman for Spatial Planning; Jaap Meindersma, Director of the Physical Domain; Andrea van der Kerk, European Affairs Advisor; and Mirjam Boxhoorn, Area Manager. Also joining them were architect Jurgen van der Ploeg of FARO and Atto Harsta, who is involved in scaling up industrial timber construction through De Bouwcampus. It was a great mix of experts, each of whom can contribute from their own perspective to advancing sustainable housing construction.
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How can we build more affordable homes where people feel at home—with less impact on the environment and less disruption to the neighborhood? The Pasteur Project served as the starting point for a lively discussion about the potential of modular wood construction.
The municipality shared valuable real-world experiences. By collaborating early on, allowing for flexibility within urban planning frameworks, and streamlining permit procedures, we can achieve a great deal. Atto highlighted the connection between industrial construction and biobased materials. We discussed with Marit how Europe can contribute, for example, by giving greater weight to sustainability in procurement processes and by promoting European materials and production.
The question that kept coming up was: How can we make more projects like Pasteur possible?
Take a look inside!
John Weijers of Elan Wonen and Ruurd Potma of HBB Groep gave us a tour of the building. It immediately became clear what this project is all about: comfortable homes with plenty of exposed wood, views of the large trees that have been preserved—thanks in part to the choice of modular construction—and, of course, the beautiful courtyard garden.
Here you can see the results of the collaboration between Elan Wonen, FARO, Finch Buildings, and HBB Group. A building with its own unique character, a wonderful place to live, and a beautiful addition to Schalkwijk.
Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed ideas, and shared their experiences. Encounters like these give us energy!
About Pasteur
The Pasteur Project is giving the neighborhood a major boost. 85 outdated apartments have been replaced by 179 new homes. Elan Wonen’s new office and home furnishings store have also found a home here. The complex was largely built using wooden modules from Finch Buildings.
