The Polish are very popular amongst the market gardeners, because of their positive attitude towards work. Clearly, all these people need a roof above their heads. The housing for 2000 agricultural workers in the Westland has a couple of planning hurdles to take, since housing is not just a simple matter in the horticultural area. Water architect Van Bueren and SIGN, the Dutch Foundation for Innovation in Greenhouse Horticulture, came up with a greenhouse concept, with which space can be utilized twice over. The cultivation surface remains intact and extra space for accommodation for immigrant workers, parking, product processing, and water storage is created.
Next to the greenhouse space is created to accommodate an ‘agricultural hotel’, in which foreign workers can live comfortably, a way of showing the employer’s appreciation. As a result, housing in over-crowded buildings for high rent is no longer an issue. The space for accommodation substantially balances out, as below in the greenhouse a variety of facilities such as storage, parking, potting and packing have their own space. The same goes for water storage. With a cost-effective hotel as a front the street scene of the nursery increases considerably. The development of the plans is in the hands of the young architect and designer Van Bueren, who has won several awards, such as the South Holland prize, Sea Culture Park design, Delta Water Award and the plan for the Floating Pavilion in the Rotterdam Rijnhaven harbour.
Role for the local government and province
Right now, accommodating the agricultural workers is not yet allowed by the planning authorities. This is a shame, as it saves travelling time and traffic jams. The local government, province and district water board can realize this innovation by awarding entrepreneurs for their housing initiative. Whoever applies the concept of doubling the surface and keeps intact or even increases the nett square meters of the cultivation area, should be granted an exemption by the government to get things in motion.
Optimizing space exploitation
Parking beneath the greenhouse (1) and a pleasant promenade near the residences (2). In theory, an ‘agricultural hotel’ (3) does not take up much space. Four to six floors can quickly be turned profitable, for which little surface area is needed. The spacious effect of parking (norm 1 on 3 hotel guests) does compete indeed with the horticultural area. With opening up, one parking space quickly becomes 25m². Parking spaces are necessary for the agricultural workers and all other visitors of a greenhouse. Since the facade has an entry on either side, the garage has a natural ventilation system (4). Many facilities that are part of a greenhouse can also be housed under the roof of the greenhouse. For example, in a nursery shed this could be the storage, cold stores, offices and canteen (5).The Westland struggles with a large water storage deficit. For several years the Westland has been searching for space, but there is none. Complex and expensive solutions are investigated. A space for 70 euros/ m² with fluctuating storage up until 2m deep can be financially interesting (6). A raised greenhouse can run along an existing ditch, creating more nett cultivation area (7); the building costs are lower as a result of a smaller facade area. The agricultural residences only take a small bite of the greenhouse area surface; however this is amply compensated by the gain in space of facilities that can now be positioned underneath the greenhouse instead of next to it.
Source: SIGN