Last Monday, White House Development (WHD) and the Municipality of Gouda signed a cooperation agreement for the Blokker location. WHD, which represents the owner, intends to redevelop the Blokker location into a mixed urban area with a strong landscape character. WHD will enter into dialogue with market parties in the short term. The new district will be called “Burgemeesterkwartier”. Mei architects and planners design the urban plan in collaboration with Felixx landscape architects & planners.
Living in the countryside in the city
The most important core value for the transformation of the Blokker location is the combination of the Gouda Landscape and a robust urban structure. This creates a special, healthy and safe living environment that contributes to the living environment of Gouda and where future users and residents can enjoy the nature that Gouda can also offer in an inner city location.
Diversity and nature inclusive
The plan includes 600 apartments / houses, providing a wide variety of housing as well as garden types, both rental and owner-occupied, suitable for a variety of future residents. The Burgemeesterkwartier will be a mixed urban area with a lot of attention for the changing wishes in the field of housing and the immediate living environment. Housing and (social) facilities are carefully combined. In addition, the plan will be elaborated in terms of landscape with plenty of space for water, greenery and nature experience and attention for sustainability and nature inclusivity to make it climate-proof.
Low-traffic and shared mobility
The location, which will have both private and communal garden spaces, will be car-free. By including semi-underground and covered parking facilities in the plan, no parked cars will be visible. Its location (near Intercity station Gouda) makes it ideal for alternative forms of mobility. That is why the Burgemeesterkwartier is also one of the two pilot locations of the City Deal for Electric Mobility. In addition to electric shared cars, the developer also wants to take up good bicycle parking facilities at this location and to find out whether offering shared scooters, cargo bikes and / or e-bikes has is a good addition.
Councilor for Housing Rogier Tetteroo is pleased that steps have been taken in the Spoorzone:
“There is a large demand for homes. We are therefore also committed to accelerating housing construction in the Spoorzone, including social housing. I am also pleased to see that our principle of adding 15% public greenery is being followed. ”
Martin Rietveld, director WHD:
“The Burgermeesterkwartier will be a beautifully mixed urban residential area with a strong landscape character, with a lively plinth with facilities in the center of the area. The proximity of high-quality public transport and the beautiful monumental city center are one of the ‘unique selling points’. ”
Spoorzone
The Blokker location is part of a larger building project in the Spoorzone (Railway zone) and a pivot point between living, working, recreation and traffic. With a careful spatial structure, the different neighborhoods are connected to each other in urban design, and opportunities arise to connect to future developments in the Spoorzone. Due to the high demand for urban living in the Randstad, close to a public transport hub, there is space in the entire Spoorzone for more than 1000 new homes for different target groups and in different categories, such as social rent, medium rent and affordable owner-occupied homes. In addition to a varied living environment within the Spoorzone, efforts will also be made to new work functions, offices and facilities.
Development perspective
In June this year, the Gouda City Council adopted a development perspective for this area. It describes the first ideas to make the Spoorzone a future-proof living and working area. Attention is paid to nature, sustainable construction, a good parking balance and the prevention of parking nuisance. More information about the Spoorzone: www.goudaspoorzone.nl