In the village of Frederiksoord, history is being brought back with the building of 62 sustainable colonial houses. The houses will be re-built on or near the original locations, so the recognisability in the landscape and the building can be recovered as much as possible. The area has been designated as a belvedere area and has been nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The original colonial houses, some of which can still be found in the area, date from the beginning of the 19th century. A social experiment began almost two centuries ago in the colony area, which would initiate the development of the current welfare state in the Netherlands. The colonies Frederiksoord, Wilhelminaoord and Willemsoord offered housing, work, care and schooling to people who lived below the poverty line. Every family that ended up in the colony was given a house with a plot of land, which had to be worked. The building of the houses, the reclamation of the soil and the construction of the road and drainage system went very smoothly. Straight roads and paths were laid out and the houses were at fixed distances from each other. A self-sufficient community was created in the colonies, providing the residents with the opportunity to extricate themselves from the urban poverty.

A lot of the colonial houses disappeared over the years. In order to return the history and the structure of the landscape, the colonial houses will be built on or near the same locations. The houses will have the same characteristics as the original houses. The new houses will be very sustainable and will be equipped with a geothermal heat pump and solar collectors. A solar cell system will also be installed on the property, which will generate electricity. This makes a connection to the gas main unnecessary. In order to limit the energy demand as much as possible, the houses are provided with a crack-free ‘shell’. In addition, a balanced ventilation system will be installed. This all results in a house that, on balance, does not need energy from ‘outside’ and can even provide energy.