In the near future, the narrow row of dunes in Zeelandic Flanders will be transformed into a wide, hilly landscape in which recreation, nature and coastal defences are interwoven. A dynamic area which offers room for both silence and liveliness. The BuitenHuis plan is a reaction to this development. There’s a great demand for holiday homes in Zeeland. Such houses are often organised in parks, which differ very little from the new residential neighbourhoods which surround every large town and city.
Straight streets, colourful houses, minimalist gardens: on holiday in a housing estate!
‘BuitenHuis’ is a proposal for a beach resort where you can enjoy the best of the landscape, the seasons and the sea, with holiday homes closer to nature.
Twenty houses of various shapes and sizes are scattered throughout the dunes. Each one is based on a closed container in which the private programme can be found: bedroom units, bathroom, toilet and kitchen.
The central building of the resort is situated where the dunes meet the beach: a beach pavilion. The basis is a platform which comes up to the top of the dunes. Supported by a rigid grid of 9 metre high wooden columns, the platform offers panoramic views of the sea, beach and country behind it. A wide staircase perforates the platform and offers a quick and comfortable link between the dunes and beach. The route to the beach becomes a unique event unlike any other transition, because of the stairs leading beach goers through the pavilion, behind the protection of yellow coloured glass.
The platform acts as a roof under which all the elements otherwise coagulated together are now given their own space at every beach crossing. The floor, approximately one metre above the beach and therefore relatively safe from high tides, supports the various functions, the largest of which is the pavilion. Eight metre high glass walls are to be erected between the floor, the platform and the poles. Each wall panel has 3 horizontal parts, and when slid open, the combination of screen prints on the three horizontal parts forms a continuous pattern which works as a sunscreen. A series of containers houses the kitchen, toilets and storage spaces. The chimney of the open hearth rises straight up through the staircase. A number of cold water showers have been installed on a platform of the stairs, under which beach goers can rinse off the salty seawater. The furniture, glass walls and containers are occasionally removed in the event of severe storms. The platform remains in place.
The infinity of the sea, the changing of the seasons, impressive skies and ocean steamers floating past make the beach and dunes of Zeelandic Flanders a unique location. The BuitenHuis plan aims to unite pleasurable comfort and panoramic views, and to establish maximum interaction between visitors and the landscape with minimum means.
