WoonMobiel (Mobile Residence)

Affordable living in modular timber frame construction

What do you do to give low-income people who do not have a home a home despite the many vacancies and the vastly reduced supply of affordable housing? SAAMO Brussels decided to develop a modular housing concept together with residents of reception homes. The result: the WoonMobiel project in Koekelberg.

Wooden housing units of the highest quality

Geraldine Bruyneel of SAAMO: "The residents received help from architectural firm BC Architects and students and lecturers from KU Leuven. Once the modular concept was worked out, we brought in a sustainable and circular timber-frame contractor with De Noordboom. The results are modular housing units made of high-quality, sustainable and circular materials. They can be quickly built and taken apart, and adapted to any type of site. All parts of the units can also be quickly replaced. The 2 houses of the pilot project were assembled in 2 days."

Goal: give homeless people their own home

"The first residents will be guided individually and in groups by CAW Brussels and SAAMO. In this way, we want those people who have not had a home for years to learn, step by step, to get a grip on their new living and housing situation. Our goal: to help them move on to their own permanent home. Because we have been allowed to use the site in Koekelberg for at least two years, we can now test the pilot project thoroughly. In time, we want to expand it into a larger and permanent housing project with public housing."

Neighbourhood work

Besides 2 timber-frame houses, the pilot project in Koekelberg also has a collective neighbourhood space. "With this, we are betting on neighbourhood working. In the summer of 2024, neighbours and interested parties can learn how to ride a bicycle under the guidance of the residents, for example, and make urban furniture from recovered, wooden materials in a wood workshop."