DE HUIS CAMER
A collective living room between woodland, farmyard and village
“The Huis Camer shows that public space in a village does not need grandeur to be meaningful.”
At the edge of the Patrijzenbos in Lendelede, on a historic farmstead once threatened by clay extraction, The Huis Camer has taken root: a generous civic building, anchored in a renewed green lung at the village’s edge. The commission was both pragmatic and visionary. The container structure used by the “Samentuin” – a volunteer-run initiative where gardening and cooking are practiced together with vulnerable groups and local residents – had reached the end of its life. A large-scale citizen consultation in 2019 reaffirmed the local desire for a shared space that could house a wide range of activities – from youth camps and neighbourhood celebrations to workshops and baking gatherings. The name of the building reflects that ambition: “De Huis Camer” refers both to the original Vercaemer farmstead and the idea of a communal living room for the village.
The architectural response is clear and modest. A new volume nestles within the existing farmstead structure, referencing the archetype of the barn. Not a replica, but a contemporary community barn that seamlessly blends into the ensemble. Five structural bays, defined by a timber frame, delineate the kitchen, multipurpose space and separately accessible sanitary zone – creating rhythm and scale within a compact footprint. A concrete base supports a CLT crown; façades in rust-brown timber cladding and a corrugated steel roof give the building a robust yet familiar appearance – utilitarian with a touch of poetry.
A small tower volume at the gable end marks the building as a collective space. It is a playful nod to the former chapel, while offering functional breathing space to the hall and providing orientation on the site. Carefully placed openings and an oversized canopy blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors. Together with the landscape design by Buro Bossaert – with soft paths, flower meadows and open spaces – the building becomes a hinge between woodland, yard and village.
Yet The Huis Camer is more than form. It grew out of local engagement and was conceived from the outset with use in mind. Vegetables are harvested here and processed in cooking workshops, with particular attention to including socially vulnerable people. Gardening and cooking become a reason to come together. The site hosts concerts, children help care for animals, and a local baking club is about to bring the historic wood oven back into use. Even the tableware was collected from local households – a shared memory in porcelain.
Lendelede – a village of just 5,800 residents – is not a place one associates with an outspoken building culture. Yet this rural municipality had the courage and vision to invest in architecture and landscape as a catalyst for its social fabric. The Huis Camer shows that public space in a village does not need grandeur to be meaningful.
CREDITS
Architect: maf architecten, Kortrijk
Landscape design: Buro BOSsaert, Moorslede
Structural engineering: Arqus Engineering, Deinze
Technical engineering: RV Building Technics, Moorsele
EPB consultancy: Arqus Engineering, Deinze
