Naturally protected

One of the youngest neighborhoods is the Homeruskwartier in the Almere Poort district. It is a neighborhood adjacent to nature. It exudes the same: surrounded by greenery, houses in light colors, lots of wood on the facades and often sedum on the roof.

The Homer Quarter is a unique neighborhood. It is the largest self-build neighborhood in the Netherlands. Of the 3,000 houses, 1,500 were developed and built by the residents themselves. People were to some extent free to build whatever they wanted: a canal house, a live-work villa, a bungalow or, for example, a garden house. Building with few restrictions.

A condition was that the design had to contribute to a green and scenic residential environment. The neighborhood is bordered on the north side by Godendreef, an access road where vehicular traffic produces the necessary noise.

Hence the need for a suitable noise barrier along that road. Van Schie installed an environmentally friendly screen here, covered with natural coconut fibers, befitting a landscape transition between residential area and nature.

The screen is 188 meters long, 2 meters high and follows the slopes of the embankment, only with a break at the bicycle tunnel that gives access to the Pampushout nature reserve behind it. When the screen is soon overgrown, it will imperceptibly become part of the landscape.