A new timber neighbourhood, The Erven, has been selected to anchor the next phase of the Lincolnpark development in Hoofddorp, outside Amsterdam. Wood Central understands that the project will add more than 500 new mass-timber houses, marking one of the Netherlands’ most ambitious commitments to bio‑based urban housing.
The design draws on the traditional Dutch farmstead, but its materials and methods reflect a distinctly modern shift toward low‑carbon construction. Four courtyards — Ontspan, Groei, Maak and Speel — organise the neighbourhood into a series of intimate, village‑like clusters.
Developers Timpaan and Blauwhoed assembled a broad architectural team led by White Arkitekter, with contributions from SeARCH, Space&Matter, Atlas Architects and DS Landschapsarchitecten. Their collective brief was to demonstrate how mass timber can shape a new generation of Dutch neighbourhoods.
“We are extremely pleased to be realising this wonderful project in our hometown,” said Ingeborg de Jong, General Manager at Timpaan. “The region faces strong pressure on the housing market, and it is fantastic that we can add so many affordable homes in The Erven together with Blauwhoed.”
Timber is the project’s defining material, with primary structures built in cross‑laminated timber and timber‑frame walls insulated with straw and wood fibre. Facades will combine wood, reed, hemp fibre, lime and recycled aluminium, while roofs will feature reed, timber shingles and green systems fitted with solar panels.
Circularity is embedded in the project’s foundations, which use recycled concrete and gravel. The buildings are designed to be modular and adaptable, allowing components to be reused or reconfigured as the neighbourhood evolves.
Each courtyard will include an “ecozolder,” an attic space built into the timber roof structure to support local bird and bat species. Mobility hubs will consolidate bike parking, parcel delivery and shared electric vehicles, reducing the need for private cars.
“The Erven demonstrates how the neighbourhoods of the future can be built with nature as a starting point,” said Oskar Norelius, Lead Architect and Office Director at White Arkitekter in Stockholm. “The design concept was inspired by local traditions, but reinterprets them in a contemporary way, where buildings, nature and people form a living ecosystem.”
When complete, The Erven is expected to serve as a model for timber‑led urbanism in the Netherlands. It aims to show that large‑scale housing growth and deep emissions reductions can be pursued simultaneously, provided cities are willing to build differently.
