Rosada Fashion Outlet Roosendaal (NL)

Rosada Fashion Outlet opened its doors for the first time in 2006. Ten years after its first opening, the shopping centre was given a refresh. The retail offering was increased by 50%, and the public space fully renovated. Unusual paving has turned the factory outlet into a real eye-catcher.

‘The refresh required a considerable investment,’ explains Kees Woltering, director at developer Stable International. ‘A day out a factory outlet is a day out for fun shopping. Part of that “day-out feeling” is a well-designed environment, so the aim was to create something clean and safe, but above all attractive. The buildings and the public shopping area need to give visitors the sense that the customer is king. That’s why so much time, attention, and finance went into designing the public space.’

The public space was designed with a very clear vision in mind. Rop van Loenhout of attika architects explains, ‘The clay paver surface contains circles intended to accentuate certain areas and link them together. There are numerous objects spread out around the public space, all of them made from natural materials, such as large boulders for people to climb on, lighting columns, and a circular fountain. The circles emphasise these objects; they’re a little like meteorites that have hit the paving.

The clay paver surface helps to give a sense of space from one façade to another . We laid a very clear pavement strip in the retail area.’ The design was also implemented in the public space next to the existing buildings.

The difference between the existing buildings and the new-build is striking, with the newly designed public space helping to a create a single, attractive unit.

Kees Woltering

Director of development at Stable International

Rop continues, ‘The decision for high-quality pavers was a conscious one. The combination of warm, nuanced yellow and smooth brown provides an attractive contrast. In the pre-project phase, we tried out a tumbled version of the pavers as well, on a test surface , but we found that this gave us too much of a rustic look. We’ve now created something more sleek.’

Kees thinks that the paving now gives of a cheerful, luxurious, and attractive appearance. ‘It’s anything but monotonous. The circles add in an element of variation. The combination of the buildings and the nicely shaped landscape has given us a really attractive end result. ’