The project is part of an experimental housing development on the Zuiderpolder in Haarlem. Nine well-respected architects were invited to present and build designs which would prove that even in social housing schemes there was a place for good, quality architecture. The ministries of health, culture and public affairs financed the designs, so that the architects were free of any prejudices and objections on the part of the client. The urban plan is characterised by three factors: the long streets running northsouth, the centre of a suburb to the southeast, and a wedge-shaped boundary district in the north-west. The streets are delineated by masonry wall lines.