Famed throughout the world for its football team PSV and the home base of Philips, Eindhoven has a shopping arcade that has also achieved global renown.
After the establishment of the Philips headquarters in the 1920s, Eindhoven experienced a true metamorphosis from small town to key regional centre. The surge in population and disastrous consequences of World War II led to snap decisions on urban planning. The result was a scattered city without a traditional heart.
When the demolition of a hospital provided an opportunity for a large-scale renovation and revitalisation of the city centre, the council did not hesitate. MAB started on the development of the Heuvel Gallery in 1988 and the goal was to create a central location for shopping and entertainment that would simultaneously function as a unifying factor for the whole of Eindhoven.
The Heuvel Gallery was designed with several shopping arcades of no more than 50 metres connected by spacious day-lit indoor squares. The basement, ground floor and first floor promenade house a variety of shops in addition to entertainment facilities such as the Frits Philips Music Hall and Holland Casino.
An air of quality and style prevails, with numerous art contributions and elaborate attention to details in the architecture. Another special feature is the energy-saving lighting system, developed in partnership with Philips. And the green credentials of both the structure and MAB were further enhanced by the heating system: MAB was the first project developer to install an underground thermal store to such a major project as this.