Leidsenhage shopping centre,
Leidschendam
It was the pellucid
structure of the existing shopping centre (1967, after a design by E.F.
Groosman) that provided the stepping-off point for the extension design.
The ambience in the shopping
streets, the high-grade development, the excellent accessibility and the pellucid structure –
all these were retained. Two supermarkets, three pavilions with terraces on a
water feature, shops, housing and parking facilities were added. A gridded
facade pulls a diaphanous veil over the parking lots and terminates the
supermarkets. A canopy of glass over the new pedestrian precinct also serves to
drain off water along the full length of the parking deck and provides a
uniform intermediary between the relatively low new-build and the taller
existing development. The frontage of the new shops – of a type common to all –
consists of four metres of clear glazing from floor to ceiling. The
seventeen-storey, 41-flat tower on the parking deck acts as a landmark for the
shopping centre.
Client
ING
Vastgoed Ontwikkeling
Architect
Benthem
Crouwel Architekten
Landscape
architect
West 8 urban design &
landscape architecture
Gross
floor area
16500
m²
Start
design
1994
Start
construction
1997
Completion
1999
