BACK ALLEY HOUSE
Staying at home longer
A front and back house with a shared courtyard garden. The housing concept Back Alley House is a contemporary kangaroo house, a home where seniors grow old or young people begin their housing careers. The multi-family lot is an innovative solution for informal care for the elderly, or a first home for young people. An intensification of the standard ‘Vinex’ allotments (house-backyard-shed-street) with a second compact house where traditionally the shed is built.
The Back Alley House is a contemporary take on the Vinex subdivision of single-family houses that are characterised by a back garden with shed and an alley at the back. These alleys are usually characterised by a lot of stone, and are rarely nice public spaces. Within the same lot size, we create two houses: a front and a back house separated by a shared garden or patio. This creates a multi-family lot, with the wide back alley as a central and green meeting point, with space for multiple uses: living, working and recreation. The alley is no longer the ‘back’ of one house, but a central part of the living environment.
Alley becomes green collective space
The Back Alley House is a contemporary interpretation of the Vinex shed, and can serve as an office, garden house, studio or kangaroo house. By placing residential units one behind the other and mixing them with other uses, a higher building density with collective living forms is possible. On the site of the former alley, the back-to-back duo houses will be separated from each other by a wide collective and green space. This is the backbone of the community.
Because the houses are constructed from wood on a brick plinth, organic growth is possible. With pergolas and terraces as private green spaces. The brick plinth is the base that provides unity. But by no means everything is pre-designed and predetermined. The different residents can continue building on their homes at their own pace, and within a budget that suits them. Either vertically or horizontally, on the lot. This creates variety in an informal living environment.
Kangaroo house for informal care
The Back Alley House can be financed in the mortgage of the front house, making it an affordable home. It can be attractive as a studio for adult children who go to college. Or as a kangaroo house to take care of elderly parents. The traditional single-family lot is transformed into a multigenerational lot with a multigenerational mortgage.
In the Back Alley House, previous concepts and types of housing from this book come together. It can be the location of a Skinny House, in which several households can live together in a wooden multigenerational home. The top floor has space for a Tower House, and the back house could also be a Tiny House.
The inspiration for the green back alley as a space for meeting others came from grandma Mavis Arnold. With the help of neighbours and local council funding, she transformed her stony alley into a community garden where residents enjoy spending time. The alley became a neighbourhood paradise and helped establish a real sense of community.
This concept was developed in collaboration with Koschuch Architects.
Stacking with collectives

The question is whether the solutions of the past are still suitable for the future. Jan van Gils, Architect Research & Development at VanWonen, researches social developments and their consequences for housing and living environments. He sees a growing need for new forms of co-living.
Jan van Gils: “Together with creative experts in our network, I have developed new concepts. Concepts that match new trends in housing requirements, housing forms, urban conditions, and that contribute to today’s important social tasks."
The solutions developed have been compiled in the VanWonen publication ‘Stapelen met collectieven’ (which translates as ‘stacking with collectives’). You can download it for free via the button below. This publication is in Dutch only.

View and download the book 'Stacking with collectives' digitally?
Leave your details to receive a link to the digital version of 'Stacking with collectives'.