Leidsche Rijn Centrum is an exceptional urban development in size and typology. Main part of the Centre is recently finished. The plan foresees in the need to facilitate all adjacent suburbs with a brand new high quality shopping and leisure centre. Over 130 shops, more than 15 restaurants and offices will be combined with 482 affordable dwellings for sale and 252 rental apartments in all typologies and sizes, combined with leisure, social assistance, sanitary services, culture and education.

The location of the Leidsche Rijn Centrum will overcome the physical barrier of one of the main arteries of the Netherlands: highway connecting Amsterdam with Maastricht. Therefore a sloping roof is made, connecting the eastern and western parts, which will be urbanized in the future. The plans for the urban design are inspired by the Middle European cities, resulting into a mix of wide boulevards and intimate side streets, vivid squares and green courtyards inside the residential blocks. CyO has designed two of the housing projects integrated in the urban project.

The residential block ‘Richmond & Phoenix’ is a considerable block, composed of two U-shaped volumes, intersected by a cycle lane and enclosing a raised intimate courtyard garden. This block of 5 layers counts 150 apartments and 5.000 m² of retail area. The architecture can be defined as timeless, solemn and unitary: giving a good presence at both the Singel as well as the Square side. In order to meet the client’s wishes the building is provided with flexible floor plans, a wide range of sizes and typologies for the apartments, bike elevators and above average domestic exterior spaces. The emphasis of the project includes a sustainable way for generating energy by means of cold and warmth storage.