Following this major redevelopment and extension of existing facilities, including retail, housing and underground parking, MAB helped transform this city into a major attraction for visitors.
While having much to offer in terms of shops, restaurants, cultural amenities, Avifauna and the Archeon theme park, Alphen aan den Rijn lacked a proper city centre. Alphen Council commissioned MAB Development to develop a masterplan that would integrate the two banks of the Oude Rijn River.
Completed in 2005, the ten-year project combined living, working, shopping and recreation in an optimal way. It also met the three main objectives: A stronger city centre function, enhanced multi-functionality and an improved quality of life.
The Rijnplein is a ‘real’ city centre: An ideal blend of culture, theatre and cinema, restaurants and bars, shops and parking (for vehicles and bikes). People now enjoy visiting Alphen aan den Rijn, which fulfils a regional function as a shopping and clubbing city at the heart of a rural area between the cities of Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam and Utrecht.
The urban developmental design paid great attention to the quality of each space and building in its own right. Not only in terms of functionality, composition, materials and lighting, but also in view of pedestrians’ eye-level experience. The modern and yet timeless architecture is precisely the right size. And, for the first time, the 'High' and 'Low' sides of the Oude Rijn are drawn together in one homogenous city centre.
In addition to the four buildings that form the main shopping street, MAB realised the Stepping Stone building on the south side of the square.
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