LRC

Utrecht
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diederendirrix worked as coordinating architect in a team of seven Dutch and Swiss architects on a design contest for the first phase of the new centre of Liedsche Rijn. The challenging program involves a mix of shops, housing, offices, cafes and restaurants, commercial facilities and parking. The total comprises 210.000 m2 and is to be built between Utrecht and Leidsche Rijn, partly over the A2. The master plan provides a grid pattern with closed building blocks and clearly distinguishable public spaces. Noteworthy is the ascending surface with a maximum height difference of 7 meters which, together with the stepped buildings, gives the centre a unique identity. The classical horizontal layering of public plinths and arcades with shops, offices, catering and commercial facilities with apartments placed above reinforces this identity The enclosed, inner courtyards are a feature of the buildings and are places of significance and meaning designed to retain their secrets. Their differences in terms of character and use are essential to the plan. All of the buildings have a number of gates, slits or passageways which allow passersby to catch a glimpse of the special world inside the (residential) squares. They also create a fine, informal network of routes between the buildings.