How do we keep the city centre economically healthy?
Groningen
Rode Weeshuisstraat
Since the post-war reconstruction, the Rode Weeshuisstraat in Groningen has been a supply street for the adjacent V&D complex. With the bankruptcy of the department store, the opportunity arose to reinvent the street.
Together with real estate developers MWPO and Beauvast, the City of Groningen and Loer Architecten (co-designers of the Mercado building), De Zwarte Hond is working on the transformation of the Rode Weeshuisstraat into a lively part of the city centre. Whereas the city centre used to end at the north wall of the Grote Markt, the area will soon form a new link between various routes in the city.
De Zwarte Hond has signed up to three projects that will jointly revitalise the public space and help turn the Rode Weeshuisstraat into a vibrant new hotspot.
The former distribution building of the V&D was transformed into a residential building with 24 compact, luxury apartments on a plinth with retail space. It was delivered in 2020. The former V&D will be converted into a multi-company building. Finally, the architectural consortium of De Zwarte Hond and Loer Architecten has made a design for a new market hall with apartments. The first pile for this was driven in December 2020.
If it is up to De Zwarte Hond, the Rode Weeshuisstraat will become a vibrant new hotspot
The former V&D is being converted into a multi-company building, the Groot Handelshuis.
The former distribution building of the V&D has been transformed into The Warehouse.
Mercado brings light, air and dynamism to the street and even adds a new square
Mercado will be a monumental covered market with luxury apartments above it.
Transformation of the Rode Weeshuisstraat
In the Second World War, the north side of Groningen’s Grote Markt was destroyed. During the reconstruction of the 1950s, large buildings were built that radiated the optimism of the time. Vroom & Dreesmann opened a large, modern five-storey department store here. Over the years, the V&D complex has grown into a collection of buildings, with the Rode Weeshuisstraat primarily functioning as a supply street. The bankruptcy of the department store chain marked the end of an era. And it points to a shift in our city centres: cars and department stores are giving way to experience and quality, with attractive pedestrian areas and speciality shops.
De Zwarte Hond is working with real estate developers MWPO and Beauvast to revitalise the Rode Weeshuisstraat. The former V&D is being converted into a multi-company building, the Groot Handelshuis. The former distribution building of the V&D was transformed in 2020 into The Warehouse, an apartment building with a retail space underneath. Opposite this is the new Mercado building, a monumental covered market with luxury apartments above, designed by the architectural consortium of De Zwarte Hond and Loer Architecten.
details
- Project
- Transformation of the Rode Weeshuisstraat
- Location
- Groningen, NL
- Size
- 25.531 m²
- Period
- 2018
- Client
- Eigen initiatief
- Discipline
- Architecture, Urban Design
- Program
- Residential, Work
- Status
- Development Phase
- Photography
- Colordot, Kaasnrijst, De Zwarte Hond, Ronald Zijlstra Fotografie
- More info
- bd@dezwartehond.nl
