The Orchard I

Rijswijk, NL

How do you turn an outdated shopping centre into an attractive place to live and work?

The Orchard I

De Zwarte Hond is breathing new life into Rijswijk’s De Bogaard shopping centre. Built in the 1960s, it was the first partially covered shopping centre in the Netherlands. Now that the American mall concept is no longer appropriate, the shopping centre is undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis. The municipality of Rijswijk wants to add living and working to shopping in order to create a modern city centre. De Zwarte Hond is contributing to this with the design of The Orchard I, an urban block with a mix of 407 mid-range rented and owner-occupied apartments, an indoor car park for around 210 cars and facilities on the ground floor.

The block consists of two residential towers, one of eight storeys and one of 20 storeys, connected by an intermediate volume. The plinth, with a mix of shops and restaurants, is finished in natural stone and designed with triangular bays. Cohesian is created by mirroring the shape of the plinth’s bays in the balconies of the residential towers. The roof garden on the fourth floor, designed by De Dakdokters, allows residents to enjoy the outdoors and ensures a healthy living environment.

data

Location: Rijswijk, NL
Size: 43.000 m²
Client: 3W Real Estate
Design phase: SO, VO, DO, TO, UO en esthetische begeleiding
Discipline: Architecture
Program: Housing, Retail
Period: 2020-2026
Status: Completed
Photography: Hugo Thomassen
Partners: ERA Contour, Van Rossum, Techniplan, Peutz, Dakdokters, Gemeente Rijswijk

themes: sustainability
urban density
mixed use

New life for an iconic shopping centre
The Orchard is a new project that forms part of the redevelopment of the Bogaard Stadscentrum shopping centre in Rijswijk. The shopping centre, which opened its doors in 1963, was the first partially covered shopping centre in the Netherlands. Inspired by a visit to a San Francisco mall, the former mayor of Rijswijk, Archibald Theodoor Bogaardt, promptly built a comparable “large shopping area” and brought the concept to the Netherlands.

The American mall concept no longer meets today’s requirements and the shopping centre is therefore undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis. De Zwarte Hond is breathing new life into the Rijswijk shopping centre with The Orchard I project.

The Orchard I: affordable, sustainable, and connected to the neighbourhood
In collaboration with developer 3W, the municipality of Rijswijk and contractor ERA Contour, the monofunctional shopping centre is being replaced by apartments and shops. In this green urban environment, where it will soon be pleasant to live and spend time, The Orchard I, with its two buildings, offers new, affordable and sustainable rental housing.

De Zwarte Hond designed The Orchard I with a plinth for commercial functions. The plinth has a green roof that is accessible to the residents. This roof garden offers sun, shelter, greenery and a relationship with the environment. The block consists of two residential towers, one of eight storeys and the other of 20 storeys, connected by an intermediate volume. The plinth, with its mix of shops and restaurants, is finished in natural stone and designed with triangular bays. Cohesion is created by mirroring the shape of the bays in the plinth in the balconies of the residential towers. This creates a playful ensemble that enhances the quality of life and ensures that the shopping centre is better connected to the surrounding district.

Collaboration and bold ambition
The Orchard is the result of close collaboration between developer 3W, De Zwarte Hond and Nudus, contractor ERA Contour, and the Municipality of Rijswijk. Just six years after 3W, in partnership with AT Capital, acquired the former Sterpassage shopping centre, the project has been completed.

The development demonstrates that transforming outdated shopping areas requires bold ambition and a clear long-term vision for the area, with careful attention to urban design, programme mix and architectural quality.