Buurse expansion

Buurse is a beautiful village surrounded by a characteristic agricultural landscape, which makes expansion of the current village centre a sensitive issue. In close consultation with the local authority, province and representatives of the village community, we have thoroughly analysed and charted the qualities of the village centre and surrounding landscape. We have weighed up possible building locations within the limiting conditions laid down by the local government authorities and designed five coherent spatial models. In the end the preferred model has been chosen and quality guidelines have been drawn up for it.

The aim of this pilot project is to outline a future for Buurse that harmonises with its present qualities and strengthens the identity of the village. The eventual objective is to show how the building of homes can make Buurse even more attractive in 2020 or 2030.

The surroundings of Buurse are characterised by the concentration of buildings in relatively small units: estates and neighbourhoods surrounded by open arable land and fields separated by ditches. A finely meshed and winding network of roads and paths runs through them. There is a lot of micro relief and a meandering network of tree-lined avenues and wooded banks.

The new building locations offer scope for housing on the outskirts of the village and in neighbourhoods with a daily and natural contact with the landscape. The contrast between the compact, originally Catholic village of Buurse and the originally elongated Buurse South district is heightened. The plots of the new housing district match the structure of the landscape and the scattered, irregular composition of homes which is characteristic of this landscape. There are no straight lines in the plots. Dwellings always border on the landscape with their generous backyards and the transitions between them are green. The scanty public metalling is made of fired material because it is durable and remains attractive.