Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, located in Leidschendam-Voorburg, between the cities of The Hague and Leiden, is the biggest shopping mall in the Netherlands.
The pre-existing Leidsenhage shopping centre was redeveloped into the Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, with an estimated investment of approximately €570m ($644m).
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The Leidsenhage shopping centre was opened in 1974 and witnessed its first renovation in 1998.
Construction on the recent redevelopment project began in 2016 and the expanded shopping mall officially opened in March 2021.
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands location
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands is located in the Randstad area in Leidschendam-Voorburg. Randstad is known as the economic hub of the country.
The site is located within a distance of 5km from The Hague and in close proximity to Amsterdam and Utrecht. It can be accessed via three highways and three tram lines.
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands details
The upgraded shopping centre spans across 3,000m² (32,291.7ft²) with 117,000m² (12,59,378ft²) of floor space, featuring 280 stores. The mall has 40,000m² (4,30,556.4ft²) of newly constructed area.
The design for the Westfield Mall of the Netherlands was inspired by a silk shawl. It connects formerly scattered buildings with a facade that resembles a shawl draped over a body.
The closed areas of the facade feature wooden panelling and a green wall to enhance the views of the interior.
The Westfield Mall of the Netherlands is designed to have windows that are twice as high to attractively display items. The materials used for the facades are unique to each building and designed to complement the outlook of the brand.
The shopping areas consist of streets designed in the shape of the number eight, in order to guide shoppers through the different zones of the mall. The Central Plaza of the mall links the different wings of the shopping centre.
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands aims to achieve BREAAM sustainability certificate by adopting sustainable methods. The roof of the mall is designed to provide energy savings with a goal to achieve 20% total energy savings.
The centre has also incorporated birdhouses, a bat box, and a bee hotel.
Westfield Mall of the Netherlands features and amenities
A food market called ‘FRESH!’ occupies 2,500m² (26,909.7ft²) area of the mall. The food market features more than 34 outlets and suppliers that include Albert Heijn XL, Jumbo Foodmarkt. and the Vietnamese street food outlet, Saigon Street.
Major tenants at the mall include brands such as Zara occupying 3,656m² (39,352.8ft²) and Bershka occupying 1,024m² (11,022.2ft²), while Pull&Bear and Stradivarius respectively occupy 874m² (9,407.6ft²) and 887m² (9,547.5ft²).
In early 2021, several brands including Nike, JD Sports, Snipes, Guess Active Wear, Cast Iron, The Old Man and Olymp & Hades, H&M, P&C, TONI & GUY, Jack & Jones, de KOOPman, PME Legend, Skechers, Livera, Garcia, Siershop, KCST, Ara Beauty and Blitz Jewels, also opened their stores at the shopping centre.
The mall also features The Gallery, which includes boutique stores spanning across an area of 3,000m² (32,291.7ft²). It includes a mix of designer and lifestyle brands such as Hugo Boss, Distrikt, Hutspot, Ace & Tate, Skins Cosmetics, 10Days, Smaak Amsterdam and Miccy’s Jewelz.
Eat Theater, a brand-new food court featuring a mix of local and well-known eateries, has also been opened at the shopping mall. The centrepiece of Eat Theater are the thirty golden ceiling decoration curtains covering about 3,020m² (32,507ft²) of area.
Some of the new food and beverage (F&B) outlets at the shopping centre include The Chocolate Company, Nespresso Neuhaus, and De Pindakaaswinkel. The Dining Plaza located on the first level comprises ten restaurants and seven kiosks, as well as provides direct access to the Kinepolis cinema complex with eleven screens.
Gamestate, an arcade game specialist, has a flagship store across two floors within the Westfield Mall of the Netherlands.
The mall has five parking areas featuring 4,000 free car parking spaces, along with space for 1,500 bicycles.
Contractors involved
MVSA Architects designed the mall while Diepenhorst de Vos and Partners (DVP) was the project manager. Van Rossum Raadgevend Ingenieurs provided construction services for the project.
Demolition contractor Vlasman performed the demolition works while Otis was contracted for the installation of vertical transportation.
Energy Technology was contracted for electrical installations, and Roodenburg was contracted for mechanical installation.
Trigion installed the sprinklers while Hoogendoorn was contracted for sanitary installation.
Buko was contracted for construction logistics, C2N is the BREEAM-NL assessor and Ballast Nedam was responsible for the shell construction. Van den Berg Bouwkundigen, a subsidiary of Van den Berg Groep, provided technical services related to the facade and roof shell of the building.
Desa Engineering Construction carried out the formwork, concrete casting and placement of precast units at the site.
Techniplan Adviseurs designed the technical installations including the transport and parking facilities for the renovated shopping mall.
VISIO Construction was contracted for reinforced concrete works and the installation of prefabricated items while Sterk Midden Nederland secured the earth works and sheet pling contract.
Ocean Outdoor Nederland installed digital totems for advertising at the mall.
BIMlink was responsible for the entire data processing during the design, construction and management phases while abcnova was engaged to provide quality assurance and project management services.
Kwakman Afbouw installed 13,000m² (1,39,930.8ft²) of acoustic ceilings for the building. It was also responsible for the work on luxury toilets and other public areas.
Gielissen Bedrijven performed interior works for the food market FRESH!
