Swedish architects land major bio-based development

White Arkitekter has been selected as part of the design team for The Erven, a 519-unit timber district in Hoofddorp that will use CLT construction, bio-based materials and circular design principles across four residential blocks.

White Arkitekter is part of the winning team behind The Erven, a new sustainable timber district in Hoofddorp near Amsterdam. The project comprises 519 homes across four blocks and forms a central part of the new Lincolnpark urban development.

The project is being developed by Timpaan and Blauwhoed, with White Arkitekter as coordinating architects alongside SeARCH, Space&Matter and Atlas Architects. DS Landschapsarchitecten is responsible for landscape design.

Circular design

The buildings are constructed in CLT with bio-based insulation, and clad in natural and recycled materials including wood, reed, hemp fiber, lime and recycled aluminum. Circular principles run throughout: foundations use recycled concrete and gravel, buildings are modular and flexible, and each block features an “ecozolder” – an attic floor adapted for birds and bats.

“The Erven shows how future districts can be built with nature as the starting point – in timber, bio-based materials and with community at the center,” says Oskar Norelius, lead architect and office manager at White Arkitekter in Stockholm.

Experience from White’s work on Stockholm Wood City has been an important inspiration in developing The Erven. With the win in the Netherlands, White Arkitekter strengthens its international position within sustainable timber architecture and climate-neutral districts.