About the Project

Xylino in Almere Poort represents one of the most ambitious examples of large-scale modular timber construction in the Netherlands. Built in the Homeruskwartier district, this 103-home apartment building demonstrates how social and mid-segment rental housing can be delivered at speed without relying on carbon-intensive concrete and steel. In a country facing both a severe housing shortage and the urgent need to decarbonize construction, Xylino offers a tangible answer: building fast, building affordably, and building with timber instead of fossil-based materials.

The project consists of 430 fully LVL-timber, circular housing modules, prefabricated under ideal conditions in a dedicated factory and then stacked and assembled on-site at a pace of roughly nine modules per day. Each module arrives complete with interior finishes and façade elements already in place, connected through a system of horizontal and vertical couplings that allows different home typologies to be combined on a single, oddly-shaped triangular plot. Only the parking garage and the elevator shaft are made of concrete — every other structural element of the building is timber. The result is a building as structurally strong as a concrete equivalent, but with more than 90% less embodied CO₂ emissions.

This shift to timber translates directly into climate impact. Because wood stores carbon rather than emitting it during production, the construction phase of Xylino results in substantial net carbon storage compared to a conventional concrete build of the same size. The homes themselves are gas-free and built to current BENG energy standards, keeping operational emissions low, while design choices such as sun shading, water-retaining green spaces, and careful orientation help the building adapt to heat stress and heavy rainfall. A shared inner courtyard with greenery and trees supports local biodiversity and gives residents a communal outdoor space at the heart of the triangular block.

Beyond its environmental performance, Xylino was designed to feel genuinely livable. The mix of social and mid-segment rental apartments and townhouses caters to a broad range of households, while timber construction itself contributes to a warmer, healthier indoor climate than conventional materials typically allow. Since opening, residents have described the building as comfortable and pleasant to live in, with children playing on the shared courtyard a visible sign of the community taking shape. Xylino thus combines climate-positive construction with everyday livability, offering a replicable model for how housing corporations can build sustainably at scale.

About the Remover

The Xylino project was developed by De Alliantie, a Dutch housing corporation, in close collaboration with Koopmans Bouwgroep, Synchroon, and Arons en Gelauff Architecten, with the timber modules produced by geWOONhout and Sustainer. Driven by a mission to make its entire housing portfolio CO₂-neutral and fully circular by 2050, De Alliantie used Xylino as a pilot to prove that stacked, multi-story timber housing can be built reliably, safely, and at the scale needed to address the Dutch housing shortage.

By sourcing FSC/PEFC-certified timber and applying circular design principles — including demountable, reusable modules — De Alliantie captures and stores carbon that would otherwise remain unaddressed in conventional construction. The carbon removal credits associated with Xylino are submitted and managed by De Alliantie under Oncra's certification protocol for biobased buildings, ensuring that the long-term storage of CO₂ within the timber structure is independently verified, monitored, and reported throughout the building's 75-year service life.

Revenue from the sale of Carbon Removal Units (CRUs) supports De Alliantie's broader materiaaltransitie — its shift toward biobased materials such as wood, hemp, and straw — making future sustainable building projects more financially viable and helping accelerate the housing sector's path to CO₂ neutrality. Together, the partners behind Xylino show how innovation, collaboration, and circular design can transform large-scale housing development into a driver of carbon storage, affordability, and community life.

Xylino

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