Village life on the Limmen Ribbons

A small-scale landscape on the coastal ridge between the villages of Limmen and Heiloo is the location for around 600 dwellings that are to be built in a calm tempo in the course of the coming 25 years. This is a sizeable assignment on the scale of Limmen.

Zandzoom, the future residential area, is situated between the existing ribbon development within the built-up basin of Limmen. This gives the housing assignment the character of expansion inwards rather than outwards. The uncertainty of the present and the long development period call for a large degree of flexibility. The area vision is therefore not an elaborated master plan, but a plan with guidelines, combined with a toolbox of rules of play for the development of the subsidiary areas. This makes it possible to respond to the situation of the moment without having to make concessions on the quality front.

We deliberately harmonise with the quality of the existing housing for the residential neighbourhoods to be built beside and between the Limmen Ribbons. The new neighbourhoods are given a ribbon-related address and are small and clearly defined (20 to 80 dwellings). Each neighbourhood has a green border (windbreak) on the side of the land that has not yet been built up. This means that the area always has a finished look, even if only a small part of it is developed.

The layout of the neighbourhoods is strongly inspired by the qualities of the existing ribbon development: green dominates the streets, and cars are largely hidden from sight. The public space is limited and street profiles are minimal to enable the largest plots possible. Trees are placed predominantly in the front gardens. The streets, like the ribbons, have an informal, village air and a flowing, rather winding course (‘untidy streets’). The result is that what you always see are the green front gardens. Existing tree-lined avenues and clusters of trees are incorporated. A varied picture emerges thanks to the generous layout of the plots and the mixture of typologies in each neighbourhood. This variation reinforces the informal character and organic growth pattern of Limmen: everything redolent of a standard suburb is avoided!