de Bijenkorf, The Netherlands

Client / de Bijenkorf

A new, £12m, 8,500 square metre department store in Amstelveen, south of Amsterdam.

The brief / The leading department store chain in The Netherlands, de Bijenkorf, commissioned Greig & Stephenson to design a new ‘statement’ store in the prestigious Rembranthof shopping centre development. Greig & Stephenson successfully bid for the project following a previous collaboration with de Bijenkorf in The Hague.

The context / The site occupies three levels, with two entrances, one at basement level, direct from the car park, and the other on the ground floor from a public atrium where two malls and the main exit from the car park meet.

What we did / Greig & Stephenson worked with de Bijenkorf to come up with a cutting edge but highly functional design that Retail Week magazine later labelled ‘spectacular’. At the heart of the store is an atrium featuring an eye-catching timber ceiling which runs right out into the shopping centre and blurs the distinction between the two. During trading hours a set of five huge glass doors open to create a 20m column-free space forming the main route into the store.

Impact / The barrier-free shopping experience we have designed allows customers to be drawn seamlessly from the shopping centre into the store. The project has also attracted critical acclaim.

“The most telling praise is that many have remarked that the Amstelveen branch is bigger than the Amsterdam store, when in fact it is only half the size. I'd say they've succeeded brilliantly.” FRAME Magazine