De Zwarte Hond is breathing new life into Rijswijk’s De Bogaard shopping centre. Built in the 1960s, it was the first partially covered shopping centre in the Netherlands. Now that the American mall concept is no longer appropriate, the shopping centre is undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis. The municipality of Rijswijk wants to add living and working to shopping in order to create a modern city centre. De Zwarte Hond is contributing to this with the design of The Orchard I, an urban block with a mix of 407 mid-range rented and owner-occupied apartments, an indoor car park for around 210 cars and facilities on the ground floor.
The block consists of two residential towers, one of eight storeys and one of 20 storeys, connected by an intermediate volume. The plinth, with a mix of shops and restaurants, is finished in natural stone and designed with triangular bays. Cohesian is created by mirroring the shape of the plinth’s bays in the balconies of the residential towers. The roof garden on the fourth floor, designed by De Dakdokters, allows residents to enjoy the outdoors and ensures a healthy living environment.
