Shell homes

A shell home gives you the unique opportunity to custom build a house for the way you want to live. Choose your shell options for the exterior, finishing materials and the fitout of the interior from a fixed price menu, or choose the ultimate option of DIY route: you will have maximum freedom in the layout and specification of the interior. And do it yourself.

How does it work?

A shell home gives you a head start in creating your own unique home. We start with developing the site and agreeing on planning permission within the initial design. You can then choose from several exterior and interior options. The options include a number of different layouts and various bathroom and kitchen designs. The different options come with their own price tags, which gives you a clear understanding of the total cost and how this fits within your budget.

We build the house with your chosen options and hand you the keys to your finished home when it’s ready for you to move into.

Projects

View projects

Birckhoeve, Rijswijk

Birckhoeve is tucked away in a small green haven in the outskirts of the cities The Hague and Delft, Rijswijk. On a century old farmer's yard a timber frame shell barn will be built, seperated into two family homes. New residents will choose their options to customise it to their needs.

Nijverheid, Leiden

In Leiden, on the edge of the historical centre, 24 self build attached plots have been sold. A third of the new residents built in timber wooden frames. Very exciting to see the results. Some use CLT timber and leave the wooden finish for the inner walls. Or plaster it for a more sleek finish.

Wikihouse, Almere

Wikihouse is an open source project for designing and building houses. The goal of this project is to democratize and simplify the construction of sustainable homes with limited resource use. In Almere we guided several self builders to build their unique wooden homes.

Want to start with Shell homes?

You may have heard of the ‘Right to Build’ register, which local authorities are required to keep. If you put your name on this register, you will not only inform your local authority of your desire to build your own home, it also means that the authority has to offer a serviced plot or the opportunity to custom build. The legislation stipulates that local authorities must grant planning permission within three years to a sufficient number of serviced plots. For example, if 500 people apply to this register, the authority has to grant permission to 500 homes that could be self build or custom build.

Registering your interest therefore helps everyone who want a self build or custom build home.

You can find details of the register on your local council’s website, or by calling their planning department. f you have questions about how to proceed, please feel free to contact us.