New Eygelshoven child center builds families' future

The Integral Child Center (IKC) Droomhof will be built on the grounds of BS de Veldhof in Eygelshoven. This will give Eygelshoven a wonderful place in the neighborhood where education and childcare will work together integrally on the development of young children between the ages of 0 and 12. To facilitate this even better, there will also be places for care functions, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, school social work and the GGD.

The design
TenW's architects got to work on the design. The design was presented to local residents and stakeholders during an information evening on September 28. In this presentation it also became clear how the suggestions and wishes of the local residents during the first meeting were fulfilled.

The future building will consist of two floors and will be largely on the same site as the current school building, making the best use of space. Sustainability is central to the new building. For example, sustainable wooden materials will be used. It will also be optimally insulated and equipped with state-of-the-art installations. The ambition for an energy-neutral building is thus increasingly taking shape. The design team is now proceeding with the technical elaboration of the design.

"With a contemporary child center, IKC Droomhof, we provide solid support for families in the development of children aged 0 to 12. When youth can grow up healthy and go to school in their own neighborhood, the future of the neighborhood is also being worked on. That makes Eygelshoven a durable place for families to live," says Alderman Jo Schlangen.

Director Kiki Huijnen of education foundation MOVARE also thinks the arrival of a contemporary child center is an asset to the neighborhood. "This will allow us to meet the children's needs even better and contribute to new healthy generations."

Temporary housing
The target for the start of construction is May 2023. The students of the Veldhof and the children of the childcare center will then temporarily move to other locations. To spread the traffic as much as possible, the groups will be divided over two temporary locations. Part of the learning groups, together with the childcare, will move to the building of the former elementary school De Schatkist, about a kilometer away. The other learning groups will move to emergency classrooms on the practice field of the LHC soccer club on Anselderlaan.

During the development of IKC Droomhof the environment will be taken care of as well as possible. Together with local residents, safe solutions will be sought for traffic around the child center. The municipality of Kerkrade will work on a traffic plan.