MVRDV has revealed their vision for the De Heuvel shopping centre transformation and extension in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The Heuvel shopping centre and music venue will be radically transformed into a green cultural quarter that will change the allure of the area.

This new allure will not only result from the new architectural expression of the building, but also from the extension of the building program. The program will be mixed use, including retail, theatre and culture. Around six hundred to a thousand new dwellings will be designed in three housing towers, surrounded by a green and accessible rooftop park. 

The building complex will be opened up towards the city through the demolition of the currently covered passages. This will make room for open streets that form a connection with the important squares and other cultural facilities in the neighbourhood. 

The existing Muziekgebouw - the current music venue -  will be topped up with a stacked new building, which will be covered with a ‘glass mountain’. MVRDV says that visitors can climb this mountain for beautiful views of the city, making it the eye-catching landmark of the project.

Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV and partner in charge of this project states that: "Culture makes a city attractive, and a city as fast-growing as Eindhoven deserves a central music venue that is more visible."

"Our vision is an open and accessible shopping, residential, and cultural quarter. We achieve this by radically opening up the existing buildings, transforming the complex into seven new city blocks, and expanding upwards from the roofs."

He adds: "Our goal is to make the complex attractive again for all the people of Eindhoven who want to shop and go out, while at the same time ensuring interaction with the inner city. In our vision, the area will have a totally different allure."

The project is the result of the collaboration between the client CBRE Global Investors, the municipality of Eindhoven, the province of North Brabant, the Muziekgebouw and VNO-NCW in order to preserve the Muziekgebouw and Heuvel shopping centre.

The project is unofficially titled "The Hill Quarter & The Music Mountain". With the ambition to transform the Muziekgebouw into an urban living room and by adding a new mix of functions, the project is expected to draw the city’s residents in great numbers. A feasibility study will be MVRDV’s next step and is to be expected by the end of the year.

Project information:

Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Surface: 27.000 sq. m.

Program: Mixed use, retail, theatre, cultural

Client: CBRE Global Investors

Architect: MVRDV

Founding Partner in Charge: Winy Maas

Director: Gideon Maasland

Team: Sanne van Manen, Thijs van Oostrum, Bob de Rijk, Gijs Rikken, Rik Lambers, Isabel Morales Garcia, Mark van Wasbeek, Natalia Lipczuk, Ajay Saini, Michele Tavola

Visualisations: Antonio Luca Coco, Luca Piattelli, Francesco Vitale, Gianlorenzo Petrini, Luana La Martina

Structural engineer: Adviesbureau Tielemans

Real Estate Advisor: Expo Vastgoed

Logistics Advisor: JWC

All images are courtesy of MVRDV.

> via MVRDV & Architectenweb (Dutch article)