Client / ING Real Estate and Ruijters Vastgoed
A 15,000 square metre new build housing and retail centre in the centre of Heerlen, the Netherlands.
The brief / ING and Ruijters Vastgoed commissioned Greig & Stephenson as the main interior design consultants for the project. Our role also encompassed retail branding and consulting & strategic planning, as well as signage.
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The context / The £15m new centre comprises housing and retail units across a 15,000 square metre site in the middle of town. A 7,000 square metre supermarket in the basement anchors the shopping area and is accessible via lifts and staircases from the car park.
What we did / Working with local architects ARN Meijs in Maastricht, we designed a series of simple but elegant squares. The glazed oval heart of the centre is accessed via two covered streets and a single storey arcaded route leading from the railway station. There are three separate entrances, each one with its own distinctive style designed to complement the streets around it, both in look and materials.
Impact / Since opening to the public in February 1998, the Corio Centre has had a dramatic impact on Heerlen, with 10 per cent more people coming to the town centre and 50 per cent of these visiting the Corio Centre. Visitors spend 20 per cent more time in the town centre, where turnover in shops is up 40 per cent and the per capita spend has risen by 25 per cent.
The development's design has also attracted praise – Corio won Best Shopping Centre in the 1999 FX International Interior Design Awards, and was a finalist in the Best Shopping Centre category of the International Council of Shopping Centres Awards, also in 1999.
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