Crafting a Flexible Shared Space for Culture and Leisure

Cultuurhart Berlijnplein embodies a strong ambition for a creative complex fueled by collaboration and innovation between disciplines, synthesizing the dreams of creators and needs of users simultaneously. Encompassing 9,200 m², this cultural nexus of three clusters encompassing buildings, pavilions, and squares for exploration and connection, offering a range of experiences from exhibitions and studios to theaters and educational workshops with a strong focus on performing arts. In this endeavor, DVDL worked on the initial design phase as a facilitator, integrating the diverse cultural entities across the site and ensuring harmony and functionality.

A distinctive feature of this project lies in its commitment to co-creation. Berlijnplein’s transformation actively involves current and future users, as well as local residents, shaping it into a square by everyone, for everyone. Noteworthy tenants include RAUM city lab, DePlaatsmaker, Kanaal30, and the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU). It will feature exhibition spaces, dance and theater studios, workshops, catering facilities, and educational spaces for the creative industry. The design is characterized by a constructive carrier that acts as a socket for future transformations, emphasizing long-term functionality and a responsibility towards evolving common interests.

This transformative mixed-use development in Leidsche Rijn is poised to redefine circular architecture standards, ushering in future-proof building strategies, diverse programming, and a sustainable square by the end of 2025. DVDL completed this work in collaboration with De Pleinmakers, Vink Bouw, and Studio R. Other collaborators included INBO, Bureau SLA, Overtreders W, Woonpioniers, and BOOM Landscape.