The city of Eindhoven has a long tradition of technology and design. However, the creative and tech communities within the city are not always leveraging each other’s knowledge to their full potential. Immersive experiences combine both design and technology and are considered one of the fastest-growing economic sectors that will impact our daily lives. As the third wave of digitalization, IX will influence various fields beyond arts and entertainment, including training and simulation, healthcare, and urban planning. By creating a specialized district around IX, the fragmented local and Dutch ecosystem will be unified, establishing essential infrastructure and positioning Eindhoven as an international leader in the IX landscape. The district will act as a springboard for creative and tech startups and scaleups that will work on IX use cases. At the same time, the district will serve as a connecting hub with other national and international peers. In addition to creating a testbed and a center of excellence for makers and companies, Koelhuis District will also become a catalyst, attracting international visitors and significantly boosting the city’s tourism economy.

One of the most complex and pressing challenges in the city is the housing crisis. The development of the Koelhuis Village will add approximately 720 affordable housing units for creative and tech talent within the city ring. Koelhuis District will offer various types of residential units that will accommodate various target groups, with an average size between 25-75 sqm. These affordable built-to-rent housing units range from student housing, to studios, and friends’ apartments.

Frayed edges and room for experimentation are rapidly disappearing in Eindhoven’s urban development. Yet the need for them is only growing. Within the Koelhuis District courtyards, an extensive amount of affordable makerspaces will be added, creating a sustainable, future-proof incubator, and contributing to the growing need for permanent spaces.

The way we use mobility is rapidly changing. The city hub of Koelhuis District become a leading example of the future of mobility, which is not car-centered, but a shared mobility-focused place. Developed together with regional partners, such as VDL, the city hub will feature an extensive range of facilities, offering car-sharing options for its residents, and electric shared vans for makers, helping them with the transition to more sustainable modes of transportation. Additionally, it will provide facilities for last-mile deliveries, smart pick-up and delivery points for parcels and packages, and smart energy systems to relieve the existing power grid from high fluctuations in energy use due to the rapidly intensifying electric mobility fleet. At its core, the city hub is centered around use and easy transfer between forms of mobility, rather than ownership, reducing the number of cars and carbon emissions. Besides car parking spaces, there will be large bike parking, and the city hub will be directly connected to the adjacent HOV bus line. The ambition, together with other stakeholders, is to bring the autonomous people mover into the area.

In a rapidly growing city, there is often no time to look back at the recent past that forms the foundation of today and the future. Koelhuis was listed for demolition and was abandoned for over 40 years. This industrial freezing house is rare within the province of North Brabant and is globally unique because of the way it was built. It is the experimental collaboration between the architect and the engineer that resulted in a solution for Brainport avant la lettre. After saving it from demolition, the transformation and restoration plan was shortlisted for the Dirk Roosenburg Prize, the biennial municipal architecture prize. In 2024, Koelhuis was nominated as a city monument. With the opening of the building, after 50 years this closed concrete box became widely accessible to both local and international visitors.

Currently, the region is struggling to retain talent trained in its educational institutions. At the same time, companies struggle to maintain talent outside of the region because of the lack of enough (leisure and culture) programs. As a new cultural district, we aim to significantly enhance the offerings on the east side of the city, while simultaneously providing a rich cultural program typically found in other major cities within the Netherlands. By providing affordable housing, newly trained talent can stay in the city. For them, Koelhuis District Eindhoven will become a place for multidisciplinary collaboration, and exchange, making them feel more connected to the city.

With the Koelhuis District, a substantial boost will be given to the urban revitalization of the east side of the city. It will transform the former industrial area into a lively cultural district that offers a wide range of activities, creating a new and appealing city entrance at the east side city ring. The diagonal pedestrian route, over 10 meters wide, will connect residents of the area to the surrounding neighborhoods of the Canal Zone and Augustus. This development will complete the city’s cultural axis, which spans from Strijp-S, through the inner city and Canal Zone, ending at the Koelhuis District.

Koelhuis District will feature abundant greenery, both in public outdoor areas and private rooftop spaces. These green spaces will not only enhance livability but also serve as a sustainability measure, retaining water after heavy rainfalls and preventing heat stress. The outdoor spaces will be designed to encourage spontaneous interactions, functioning as outdoor gallery spaces and venues for communal and cultural events.

Because of the success of the TDK strategy, the city is flourishing, yet at the same time experiencing social tension. The current growth and prosperity are not shared equally. With the influx of international newcomers with economic spending power, housing prices become unaffordable for existing residents. At the same time, the design community, that equally contributed to the city’s success within TDK strategy, is under pressure being overshadowed by the technology community. Koelhuis District will provide a permanent home for creative talent, offering affordable spaces where they can continue living and working within the city ring. By utilizing technology, Koelhuis makes complex topics accessible to wider audiences, attracting visitors who do not tend to go the museums and other cultural spaces.

By adding a new cultural district on the east side of the city, Koelhuis will create a large positive impact on the region and the city of Eindhoven. It will contribute to the city’s strategy to spread out the culture throughout the city. The programming and facilities of the district will fill a gap in the national infrastructure, enabling the hosting of large-scale immersive and new media art-driven projects. Koelhuis, as a tech and culture hub, will attract national and international visitors throughout the year, while also offering appealing cultural experiences for the city’s newcomers and existing community. The cultural and tech hub will draw international touring exhibitions and other cultural productions that typically visit cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The combination of large-scale facilities, the vibrant atmosphere of a cultural district, and the substantial number of consumers within a 50 km radius will make it an ideal location for showcasing these projects.

Sustainability is at the core of Koelhuis District. With the decision to preserve Koelhuis and repurpose it into an A+++ cultural and tech hub, more than 5,400 tons of concrete were saved. The new-built development is likewise adopting sustainable solutions throughout the district. The district will have its own heat and cold storage (WKO) that can store heat and cold and extract it from the ground. Higher roofs will be equipped with PV solar panels for renewable energy, other roofs will support greenery or water retention. Koelhuis District will also support evolving mobility with a City Hub that emphasizes shared facilities and transport. The half-sunken city hub will serve multiple purposes, such as last-mile delivery services, advanced pickup and delivery points, services for car and bike sharing, a bike repair shop, energy storage, a smart power grid, and facilitating logistic operations such as smart garbage and waste disposal. Additionally, it will promote a pedestrian and bike-friendly environment to enhance the area’s livability.