Pim built a tiny house and moved to Ecowieck

02 August 2024 News item

He regularly took one or more days off last year and the next few weeks will be hard work, but in mid-August the time will finally come. That's when Pim Franssen, adviser on grants and impact at the Faculty of Arts, moves into his sustainable tiny house in Ewijk. 'My colleagues knew I had to be flexible.'

In 2020, Pim read of a group who wanted to buy a piece of land together in Ewijk, to build a neighbourhood of tiny houses of up to 50 square metres in an ecologically responsible way. He filled in the application form, was selected and four years later, his new tiny house is almost finished.

As easy as it sounds now, it was by no means easy. 'There were a lot of meetings at first. With each other, but also with the municipality from whom we had to buy the land and the housing association that bought some of the houses to offer as social housing.' In 2022, a club of 18 participants bought the land and from then on Pim could start building. A wooden skeleton, the basis for the cottage, was already standing on his plot last summer, and after a year of hard work and a lot of planning with his contractor, the cottage is now almost ready.

Wet walls

'The ceiling and floor are still coming in, as is the kitchen,' Pim says. 'Other than that, I still have to paint and arrange something for the drainage in the bathroom.' In mid-August, Pim hopes to move out. Although he still has to lay out the garden and a legally required parking space, the biggest work will then be done.

'Recently, I had to be very flexible. If you build with sustainable materials, the delivery time is often longer. Moreover, there is a lot of coordination with the contractor and construction workers. Because if one part is not finished in time, they cannot continue with another. That either costs extra time or extra money.' The eco-friendly way of building also caused unforeseen problems. 'The walls are made of lime hemp. That has to dry for a long time. But when we finally started plastering, the lime hemp turned out not to be dry enough and stains came through.'

Time for small talk

Although it was a chaotic year, Pim managed to combine construction well with his work as a grants consultant. 'As long as I did my work at the university well, I could shift my hours. Sometimes a bit longer, then leaving a bit earlier.' Suddenly taking a day's leave was also possible, despite the fact that Pim sometimes had to fit his schedule carefully. 'My colleagues knew about my project and were happy to think along with me. During lunch, they also regularly asked how my house was doing.'

Pim is looking forward to finally moving to Ecowieck, as the sustainable and car-free neighbourhood in Ewijk is called, after four years. Because of the intensive cooperation, he already has a good relationship with the other residents. 'When I visit my house, I count extra time to chat with others. We organise activities together or have spontaneous drinks.'

Although his own house is almost finished, there is still plenty to do in the neighbourhood. 'We are building a continuous road through the neighbourhood, planting our own vegetable garden and are designing a communal building. So there is still plenty to do, but all the more fun to work on it together.'

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