De Meelfabriek
A project of redevelopment
and urban renewal
Masterplan
The new Meelfabriek site consists of the old factory on the Zijlsingel and the half-empty lot to the West. Together these two lots form the new Meelfabriek site. New buildings are added alongside old ones. New rooftop volumes appear like crowns. Together they form the new footprint and the new composition of volumes. A dialogue between old and new is created.
The heart of the western site will be the new Aspen Place, surrounded by new buildings, kept in the scale of the surrounding neighbourhood. A footbridge connects this place with the new Meelfabriek Square, which is placed in the old front yard of the industrial complex. The lost canal running north to south in the center of the site is reinstated. It is marking the transition between the original factory lot and the new Aspen Place.
The whole new Meelfabriek complex is a pedestrian area. A large underground carpark is provided.
Urban Energy: the Masterplan offers an attractive mix of living, working, learning, recreation, culture and shopping. The street level of the complex is dedicated to public use and pedestrian circulation: places for rest and play, neighbourhood activities, daycare facilities, restaurants and cafés, some speciality shops and shops for everyday use. There are large open and covered areas, new parks and a new harbour.
The even distribution of urban life across the site on street level is generated by the spread of entrance halls and lobbies of the different buildings, the Meelfabriek Hotel, the Meelfabriek Café and Restaurant, the Fitness & Spa, the Greenhouse Apartments, the Flower Shop, the House of Fashion and Design, the Loft Apartments and Ateliers, the Workshop Building and the public access to the parking under the colonnades of the Meelfabriek Hotel.
The public areas of the complex are designed to offer many different urban situations. The atmosphere is informal. Strolling, shopping, going from place to place. A rich mix of urban settings, harbours, passages, footbridges, parks, squares, covered and open areas together with shops, cafés, restaurants and neighbourhood facilities will create a high degree of public comfort.
The Meelfabriek site aerial overview 2003.
Site plan, 2010.
Maintaining industrial buildings, eliminating secondary buildings.
Maintaining industrial buildings, eliminating secondary buildings.
Introducing new buildings, creating public spaces.
The Meelfabriek Complex, use of buildings and public area's.
The Meelfabriek Complex, use of buildings and public area's on street level.
House of Fashion, seen at night, with new roof top volumes.
Approaching the Meelfabriek Complex from Anker Park.
The Workshop Building and the Loft Apartment Building seen from Anker Park.
Looking into the new Industrial Passage from Anker Park.
Inside the Industrial Passage, looking towards the House of Design.
Meelfabriek Square with Loft Atelier Building, Meelfabriek Hotel and Meelfabriek Fitness & Spa in the background.
Katoen Park, looking towards the Meelfabriek Complex.
Loft Apartment Building, canal side with new footbridge to Aspen Place.
The Meelfabriek Café on Meelfabriek Square.
Water taxi arriving in the new Meelfabriek Harbour next to the colonnades of the Meelfabriek Hotel.
Colonnades of the Meelfabriek Hotel in front of the Hotel Lobby.
Approaching the Lobby of the Loft Atelier Building from Industrial Passage.
Loft Atelier Building, double height space of the food market on ground and first floors.
Entering the food market underneath the steel structure from Industrial Passage.
Looking across Industrial Passage from the House of Design to Aspen Place.