History
After a year there was a concept and a design plan. Now a financier was needed. They visited all banks in the Netherlands and although the responses to the refreshing concept were predominantly positive, every bank (partly due to the credit crisis) withdrew its support for the project after an intensive trajectory. Luc and Wout did not let it go, got in their car and drove all over the Netherlands to get their project financed through crowdfunding. After 6 months, they found enough private investors to get the project off the ground. The vacant property is purchased and the design process could really begin. Now they needed an operator. After a long search, because the concept was new, they didn’t find one. "We will do it ourselves!" Luc and Wout proclaimed somewhat ambitiously. They made a business plan and managed to get the investors on board. With the help of Mady and Hans (the future manager) the concept was truly fleshed out. A design and construction team was assembled. After two years of preparation, in March 2015 the time had finally come: the start of the transformation. The building was completely stripped and a substantial renovation followed. The neglected 80's building gets a completely new look within 9 months.
In order to fully align the concept with the desired experience, the interior was almost entirely designed and manufactured in-house. Workshops were visited throughout the Netherlands with a trailer in tow. All this to get the right inventory.
After completion the building was prepared for commissioning in a record time of 12 weeks with help from family and friends. In between all the hectic, a new team of 25 new faces was selected for the opening.
A week before the official opening of JOINN! takes place, Luc and Wout received the Entrepreneurial Talent Award for Houten and surroundings from the mayor, for the courage and commitment shown. After the 'VIP opening' on 4 November and the 'Grand Opening' on 5 November 2015, Houten now has a brand new Dutch housing concept.
