What if wellbeing came first?
Our surroundings affect how we feel, move and connect with others. Yet in construction and urban development, wellbeing is often considered only later in the process, even though the choices made at the very beginning shape how people will live.
In collaboration with various designers, Heijmans is exploring how wellbeing can become a starting point in new building projects. Three design projects investigate this at different scales: the home, infrastructure and the neighbourhood.
On the road to wellbeing
Every new infrastructure project is also an opportunity to build for wellbeing. Insights from three infrastructure projects show how listening to residents and users can lead to interventions that not only reduce disruption, but also support health, social interaction and a sense of connection.
The restorative home
Can a home help you reconnect with yourself? In this project, Heijmans and Rombout Frieling lab explore new concepts for the timber-built Heijmans Horizon Home that support the mental wellbeing of its residents. We experiment with ways a home can foster calm and restoration through low-stimulus spaces, unexpected layouts and places to retreat. You can experience this for yourself by stepping inside a “Recovery Cabin”, a space designed to help you slow down, unwind and recharge.
Wellbeing from the start
How do you design a neighbourhood for residents you have not yet met? At De Bazaar in Beverwijk, we are exploring how a new residential district can encourage meaningful encounters between neighbours. Through real-world test installations in existing public spaces, we learn how different people interact and what this means for the choices we make today. In this way, wellbeing becomes more than an afterthought. It becomes a foundation for the neighbourhoods of tomorrow.
