Platform on new construction, renovation, restoration and transformation
What at first glance looks like a two-story building over a huge area is, when you zoom in, a complex mixed-use building with a two-story underground garage, a tunnel under the railroad tracks, 10 movie theaters, passages up to 20 meters wide that can be used as concert halls, large open spaces and so on. All this meanders between and over the existing retail units, some of which will remain in use. To merge the existing and new into one whole, the building is surrounded by a spectacular facade of double-curved micro-concrete, glass and aluminum, which places special demands on the deformations of the structure. Van Rossum Raadgevende Ingenieurs was responsible for the structural design.
The new building sections are basically composed of a two-level square grid of 8.1 x 8.1 meters with a generous floor height of 5 meters. This grid is intersected by the covered passages, which pass diagonally and straight through the grid. This passage connects the existing shell with the new building. The end result is one whole. The construction of the retail spaces is made of concrete columns with a wide slab floor and a light steel roof construction.
The route shoppers take through the building features many highlights and large open spaces. To increase the WOW effect, these tall column-free spaces feature large skylights and spectacular ceilings. The experience begins at the main entrance, which curls up to 25 meters above ground level with a double-curved steel structure finished with uniquely shaped concrete panels. Clever structural design made these complex shapes possible with an economically relatively simple beam structure.
Retail buildings have a high need for flexibility in construction. Tenants and layout are only known during construction and not during design. The entire structure is therefore designed so that it does not limit unit distribution and can be easily adjusted to meet tenants' needs. This begins by having the stability of the building provided entirely by the columns, so no stability walls are needed in or between the retail spaces that could limit the layout. The upper floor is designed so that large recesses for escalators, voids and elevators can easily be made in it. This extensive flexibility in structural design is currently being put to good use in implementing tenant requirements.
