The award was announced at the prestigious annual International Design and Development Awards competition of ICSC in Phoenix, Arizona, on 3 December 2008. City Centre Almere, in the Netherlands, was developed by Bouwfonds MAB, Blauwhoed Eurowoningen and the Municipality of Almere. The city's retail section is owned by Unibail-Rodamco.
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City Center Almere's ingenious architectural approach has created a pulsating, futuristic city heart.
City Centre Almere was nominated for a prize in the main category large mixed-use retail projects. Seven projects made it to the last round of this category besides City Centre Almere: The Domain in Austin, SihlCity in Zurich, and Midtown in Tokyo. Winner of the Design Award in this category was the Manufaktura project in Poland. The award was presented during the ICSC annual global conference, The CenterBuild Conference, in Phoenix, Arizona. Earlier this year, the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centres) Europe had conferred the RESTORE Award to the City Centre Almere project.
City Centre Almere
The ingenious urban development plan for City Centre Almere was created by Rem Koolhaas and Floris van Alkemade (OMA). The jury were impressed by their plan, in which integration of an "underworld" (parking and public transport) and an "upper world" (shops, catering establishments, housing, a hotel, library, cinema and theatre) were realized. "After winning the 2007 NEPROM Award and the RESTORE Award in early 2008, it is great to receive another token of international recognition from the ICSC," says Jos Melchers, Managing Director of Bouwfonds MAB. Elderman Arno Visser of the Municipality of Almere said he "is proud to see the ambitious City Centre Almere plan win another award."
A quote from the jury's report
The jury remarked that "City Center Almere ingenious architectural approach has created a pulsating, futuristic city heart, one that complements its existing surroundings. This multi-functional project rises above an underworld "cathedral" of parking and transportation connections, while providing access to two levels of stores, an undulating carpet of retail activity. It's all topped off by a city roof garden created for use by residents of housing that borders the garden."
City Centre Almere and the parties involved
City Centre Almere is a development project of Almere Hart C.V.
