PROJECT REPORT: MIXED USE SCHEMES 41
With receiving car traffic being a fundamental part of the overall function of the original building, the neighbourhood was designed with a ‘two-level’ approach separating cars and pedestrians – the former entering at street level and the latter one level up. The new scheme retains this overall separation, but makes the ground level more inviting to the pedestrian. The dominating presence of the Pullman Hotel tower is a centrepiece of the masterplan, but it was offset by a plinth of “rough textured concrete,” as well as “boxy reflective glass and red steel lattices which epitomised the foibles of its era,” said the architects, and which needed addressing. While lacking natural light, the tower had architectural strengths, says des Courtis, possessing a “strong character,” with its vertical black and white-striped facade. However, he adds that it “somehow blends surprisingly well in the neighbourhood.” Yet in addition to the main road running north- south, the current block itself “created a division in the neighbourhood,” cutting off access from the streets to the north from those to the south.
ADF MAY 2023
It also had an “inefficient” three floors of office space spanning the entire width of the shopping centre, with “super wide” floor plans, says des Courtis. And the final challenge was the existing mix of uses, most of which – such as the hotel and retail – would be retained, but in fundamentally altered forms.
Design approach
The design phase went through many iterations over the project, which is MVRDV’s modus operandi, says des Courtis, but was very necessary given the complexity of this project. However, he adds that “it was funny that even if you look at the very early phases, the idea was the same.” By this he means the idea of revealing the interior functions and spaces in the facades, but this expanded from being just the commercial areas to all of the various uses. MVRDV’s design reuses as much of the concrete structure of the plinth as possible, while “dramatically altering the building’s relationship to its surroundings,” say the architects. Everything below the second
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LEVEL CHANGES
The architects decided to move the hotel lobby from the ground floor to above the retail zone podium, sitting at second floor level Drawings © MVRDV
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