Architectour Prince Karel Neighborhood Knokke-Heist

A century ago, the wide dune area at the edge of which the village of Knokke lay was still untouched. In the dunes of Het Zoute, which belonged to the "Zoutepolder," the forerunner of the "Compagnie Immobilière du Zoute" by Raymond and Maurice Lippens, there were only a few small caves of coastal farmers and houses of families with many children on leased land. It was only at the end of the 19th century that changes began. In 1887, the consortium around Alfred Verwee (painter), Henri Dumortier, and Louis Van Bunnen (hotelier) purchased about 34 hectares of dune land in the Zoutepolder for 1000 Belgian francs per hectare. The site extended over a strip from the western border of the polder. The aim was to parcel out the purchased areas according to a plan created by the urban planner Jean Baes. However, these first subdividers did not adhere to Baes' beautiful plans.
In 1908, the "Compagnie Immobilière du Zoute" (now known as "Compagnie Het Zoute") was founded. A contract was signed with the highly regarded German architect and urban planner Joseph Stübben (1845-1936) with the aim of creating a villa park in the dunes of Het Zoute. Joseph Stübben had already drawn up the plans for Duinbergen in 1901. The street plan for Het Zoute was also designed by Stübben. He achieved a beautiful balance between the axis of connections, the streets, the paths, and the private ways. Straight axes were avoided whenever possible, without falling into a tangle of winding and curved streets. In Het Zoute, three straight axes can be distinguished: the Zoutelaan, the Sparrendreef, and the Elizabetlaan (among other things for quick accessibility in case of accidents). Broken and curved lines in the street plan are often perceived as picturesque and refer to natural growth and spontaneous development. Further pioneering proposals:
• the building and road network adapt to the relief;
• quite large parcels and plenty of green spaces;
• the traffic-free hiking paths that define the charm of Het Zoute are lined with trees (pollard willows, poplars) to protect walkers from frequently occurring winds;
• no high-rise buildings;
• use of building materials from the region (bricks and roof tiles fired from polder clay), thatch for roofing is also present;
• sloping roofs.
Many architectures from the time before the First World War can no longer be found in Het Zoute. The district only experienced enormous development around the 1920s. Het Zoute became "la plage la plus en vogue" during the interwar period. The royal interest also partially shifted to Knokke.

Texts: Jozef Bonte and Sven De Moor | Copyright: Langs Vlaamse Wegen - Wandelen en fietsen in Knokke-Heist (VTB-VAB) | Published online by the municipality of Knokke-Heist/Sincfala, Museum van de Zwinstreek - 050 630 872 - sincfala@knokke-heist.be