Together on one building plot

Cohousing Waasland, Sint-Niklaas

As part of the urban renewal project Clementwijk2 in Sint-Niklaas, a residents' association initiated an ecological and sustainable residential project. They purchased a building plot and hired the architecture firms BLAF and DENC!-STUDIO. In order to ensure as much collective outdoor space as possible, eighteen residential units were stacked compactly to create three levels, and an additional four terraced houses were built as well.

The project consists of three buildings surrounding a shared central garden. All of the residences have their own front door on the street side and a terrace on the garden side. Cars and bicycles are parked together on the edges of the site. The prominent apartment building has a playfully designed external passageway on the street side and a decorative wooden structure with private terraces on the garden side. Within this general structure, residents were free to determine the size and layout of their apartments, including the terraces and windows. The garden and play area, the terrace and the edible garden, and the pavilion with a kitchen, a sitting area, a storage area and a roof terrace form the heart of this cohousing concept. The residents also share a guest room with a sauna, a parking area, a laundry room, a cistern, solar panels, and a heat circulation pump.