Bridge Keeper’s cottage Replacement, Hoenkoopsebrug

Bureau Bouwkunde’s contribution:

• architectural plan development
• preliminary design
• final design
• technical design/project-execution plan

The bridge keeper’s cottage on the fifty-year-old Hoenkoopsebrug in Oudewater is still in use as the bridge keeper’s workplace. Recently, it has been replaced by a new building that fully meets present-day requirements.

At the request of IJzerman Bouwtechniek, Bureau Bouwkunde has provided complete architectural preparation for this project. Initially, we modelled the old (existing) situation based on a Point Cloud. The design was then developed from Preliminary and Final design to execution ready.

To minimize disruption, the replacement of the cottage had to be completed in a single day. To achieve this, IJzerman Bouwtechniek fully prefabricated the building based on our model. Within a few hours, the existing cottage was demolished and replaced with the new one.

Another requirement was that the new cottage should closely resemble the old one as much as possible. This posed certain challenges, particularly regarding insulation, window frames, and structural support. The result can be seen below!

The installation process was a remarkable moment; thanks to precise detailing, the prefabricated structure fit exactly onto the existing construction, as intended.