In the new neighbourhood ‘De Tuinen van Zandweerd’, the cohousing project CPO Sjalot consists of ten rowhouses organised around a shared garden and courtyard. The houses are configured in three rows on a pie-shaped plot bordering a public park.

Werkstatt made a careful layout together with the initiators, four young families. The layout ensures a balance between privacy and shared living on this tight plot, while also taking into account sun orientation and shading caused by mature trees in the surrounding park.

The configuration allows for spontaneous encounters in the central courtyard. Facing the courtyard is also a shared building, housing bike storage and a multifunctional communal space.

The buildings have been built as a hybrid timber structure (HSB) with a breathing, biobased, timber clad skin. The metal roofing and porch structure is purely galvanised, ensuring a stable and clean aesthetic over the years.