SOLAR CARPOOL

“Coöperatie Opgewekt Houten” is investigating the possibilities of installing solar carports in public car parks. In close consultation with the sustainability department of the municipality of Houten, the carpool site along the A27 motorway has been selected as a possible location.

The carpool site is located in a former inundation field of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Dutch Defence Line. Its core quality is its open and green character.
• It is located next to the Amsterdam-Rijn canal, which is part of the World Heritage Site’s main feature, water management.
• It is located on the “unsafe side” of the strategic landscape and is clearly visible from the higher A27 motorway.
• From the motorway exit, it forms the entrance to Laagraven and thus the entrance to the Dutch Water Lines World Heritage Site.
• Finally, it is located in a narrow section of the World Heritage Site, known as the “hourglass”. This narrow section of the World Heritage landscape is essential to continuing the story of the line.

Can the Solar Carpool offer new meaning in a contemporary context and against the backdrop of the historic Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, as a “Battery at Houten”?
1. Located in the narrow part/“hourglass” of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, this point forms a “weak link” in the line landscape.
2. At the junction of the A27 motorway and the Amsterdam-Rijn canal, this location is a new “access”, once again a “weak spot”
3. The spatial quality of the entire area is a “weak link” in the UNESCO heritage landscape

Four variants for the design of the carpool site have been developed, with increasing levels of ambition.
The structure for the canopy and solar panel support is inspired by the principle of the military Bailey bridge, a modular system that makes it relatively easy to expand or reduce the canopy.
It is also easy to adapt to other locations within the UNESCO landscape with a similar requirement.