Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma

When Dutch housebuilder Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma (BGDD) joined the Living Places Network, the ambition was not to recreate Living Places Copenhagen.

 

The ambition was to understand whether the ideas behind it could work somewhere else.

 

The result is Smûk, the first Living Places project developed outside Denmark. A prototype was completed in Dokkum in 2024, and the first larger Smûk project is now underway in Middelsee, where 48 timber homes are being developed in collaboration with the Municipality of Leeuwarden and WoonFriesland.

 

The project explores how healthier homes with a lower environmental impact can be delivered within the realities of the Dutch housing market.

 

Rather than replicating a building, Smûk demonstrates how knowledge developed in one context can be adapted to another.

 

 

Photos by Adam Mørk

Every housing market has its own traditions, regulations and constraints.

 

For BGDD, the challenge was translating the Living Places approach into a Dutch context while maintaining the ambitions that inspired it in the first place.

 

The project combines biobased materials, daylight-focused design and natural ventilation with efficient construction methods that support affordability and scalability. The result is a home shaped by local conditions while drawing on knowledge developed through Living Places.

 

Smûk demonstrates that the strength of Living Places lies in the ideas behind it. By adapting those ideas to Dutch regulations, construction methods and housing needs, BGDD shows how knowledge can evolve while remaining relevant to local realities.

The Netherlands faces growing demand for housing alongside the need to reduce emissions from the built environment.

 

For BGDD, the question was not whether healthier housing could be created. It was whether it could be delivered within existing systems, construction practices and market conditions.

 

The project combines healthy indoor environments, biobased materials and resource-conscious design with construction methods that support wider adoption. Rather than relying on future technologies, it demonstrates what can be achieved using knowledge, materials and solutions already available today.

 

In doing so, Smûk challenges the assumption that better housing requires entirely new solutions. Sometimes progress comes from applying existing knowledge differently.

Smûk began as a prototype, but its purpose extended beyond a single home.

The project was created to test how Living Places could be adapted to the Dutch market and to generate knowledge that could inform future developments. It provided an opportunity to explore what worked, what needed to change and how the approach could evolve within a different context.

Following the completion of the prototype, BGDD began applying these learnings to larger residential developments. The 48 homes currently under construction in Middelsee represent the next step in that journey.

This transition from testing to implementation is a critical step in turning promising ideas into housing that can reach more people.

Smûk demonstrated that Living Places is not a fixed model to be replicated.

It is a framework that can be adapted, challenged and improved through collaboration.

By adapting the approach to local needs, regulations and building traditions, BGDD helped show how ideas can travel between markets while continuing to evolve.

Smûk is one example of how Living Places grows through collaboration. Each partner brings new perspectives, tests ideas in different contexts and contributes new learnings back to the network.

The project suggests that the future of housing may depend as much on sharing and applying knowledge as on developing entirely new solutions.