The Utrecht Center Project involved the extensive restructuring of the Central Station and surrounding precinct, which is home to an integrated multi-storey shopping mall, offices, hotels and restaurants, the NS (Dutch Railway) bus and train station, office buildings and other facilities. Other tenants include the trade fair centre grounds with musical, theater and exhibition centers, offices, casino’s and leisure amenities. Additionally there are cinemas, unique performing art facilities (Vredenburg), apartments, parking facilities and a multitude of bicycle sheds, all within this complex inner city area.
The project scope included the accompanying public area and access to surrounding neighborhoods and the old city centre. The project was divided into several sub-projects and was executed in public and private cooperation between the municipality of Utrecht and private partners. After the local elections it was established that residents of Utrecht would have the opportunity to choose between two different plans for the development of the station area.
In addition to a project management role, DHV contributed to the planning and development of two sub-projects, testing them in phases and presenting the ideas to the municipality. The project management function included developing the two development plans which were presented to the public and assessed through a referendum. DHV had to gain commitment from private parties to ensure that functional public-private contracts could be made. Furthermore a spatial, as well as a financial framework was developed. After the referendum DHV set processes in motion according to the chosen plan, incorporating the details into a final project master plan.
At a later stage DHV developed the business case for a manageable investment program.
The total investment sum was €2,4-billion.