The Pen | About Silver Waves, and gray steel & concrete

But isn't it strange that at the bakery you have more choice and are helped more kindly than when you buy a house? Even though a house is usually more expensive than bread. People want recognizable customization, preferably with nice neighbors. Hasn't the time therefore come to do less project development, and to return to the building management of the past? Until the 1920s and 1930s, homes were still differentiated, even if they were homes from the same builder in short rows. During Reconstruction, the industry got caught up in product thinking and maximum efficiency, the end user got out of the picture, and the developer crept in. But then again, who says building is mostly about stone?

As a developer at Heijmans I was allowed to build castles in the air on the ground, as founder of Cooper|Feldman I did Vinexes but I was also busy with the Scheveningen Pier, Soestdijk Palace and residential towers. But each time it turned out that not vision, but money rules in project-based construction. That is why I made the switch to CPO; collective private commissioning. In short, this is demand-driven living with quality rather than profit maximization. Since 2011 we do it in the form of courtyards, as Knarrenhof® (free after Koot & Bie). We create courtyards of the past with the comfort of today in which the group determines the final product. The brand is already well known, and that's because it's not about bricks.

The concept is a solution to the Silver Wave that is already lifting us off our feet. Currently 25% of the Netherlands consists of families with children, and that share is shrinking. However, almost all new construction is still intended for that purpose. The over-60s already make up 33% of households now, and in 18 years it will be 51%. But still building for the 3rd half of life is not a serious issue. We are already raising the levees for the probable sea level in 2060, but for the certain aging peak from 2038 to 2060, it remains on paper. The Silver Wave within the levees is not seen.

Every year the backlog is growing. Without proper supply for seniors, there is no flow of affordable housing; unintentionally, the senior is now holding the housing market hostage. And without life-sustaining housing communities, loneliness, accidents, care costs and shortages of care staff increase. Ministers Ollongren, De Jonge and various Directors General also indicated to us at the Aahof Zwolle that things must change. And it can.

We now have tens of thousands of participants in 327 communities. The first 3 courtyards (ground-level) are standing, the 4th and 5th (stacked) are now being built, and numbers 6 through 10 are also planned. And there is much more to come. Building with and for groups is more complicated. Seniors do not want triangular balconies that are "architecturally pleasing," but on which you can only man-er-je-nieten with one grandchild at a time. They prefer an apartment on the first floor. Customization can be profitable, but you have to know your business.

The moral of this story: what products would you most like to build for your own father and mother? What would you like to live in yourself? What can you do tomorrow? And doesn't customization deliver more pleasure and visual quality? Should you find, looking in the mirror, that you are not up to it, send your father or your mother to see us.
Then we'll do it.      

_{Cooper|Feldman: project managers and developers working for governments and (private) landowners
(neighborhoods, dikes, homes and museums)}

_{Knarrenhof Group: Foundation, Development Company and Housing Cooperative for inclusive living in courtyards
(Knarrenhofjes, Multigenerationalhofjes, Herohofjes and Hofjes van herinnering)}