Gumm Cohousing

Circulair samenwonen in voormalig schoolcomplex

Living in former classrooms, washing clothes in the old school corridor, growing vegetables in the playground, ... The ‘Gumm’ cohousing project today houses 24 households in a green and original environment. Gumm Cohousing transformed an old school complex, a church and a rectory into a communal living space.

The Gumm garden
Where the playground and rectory garden used to be, you will now find a green oasis with wadis, a food forest and a vegetable garden. If the wadis are dry, the children of the cohousing project can use them as a play pit and amphitheatre. The residents also plant indigenous shrubs, hedges, flower meadows, trees, etc. Because these plants come from their own region, they increase and reinforce the neighbourhood's biodiversity.

Reuse of materials
The residents created the garden using recycled materials. For instance, the markings and walls are made of bricks from the former sanitary buildings in the playground. Residents can also use them as benches. Here and there are stepping stones made from old concrete chunks. The communal terrace consists of old concrete tiles. And in the amphitheatre in the playwadi, you sit on old sills from the school building. But the residents also got their circular inspiration elsewhere: the vegetable garden troughs, for instance, are made of wooden beams from a bicycle shed. These came from an old hospital nearby.

Bringing neighbours closer together
Even the building structure is green: there are green roofs, green facades and solar panels. Together with geothermal heat pumps, these make the homes near-zero energy (BEN). Gumm Cohousing thus created a green space for residents, and goes the extra mile. For instance, it opens the garden to community-oriented activities. This year, for instance, there was an authentic folk fair for young and old. And Gumm is currently transforming the old church building into Gummzaal. This will be given a dynamic, creative and neighbourhood-oriented interpretation.