Living, working, shopping, and wellness all in one complex is a solution for many problems. Mixed-use buildings are, therefore, a major trend and an interesting development for hospitality entrepreneurs.
It feels somewhat futuristic when walking through the newly opened Mix Brussels. Through the James Bond-like hall, hotel guests with rolling suitcases, broad-shouldered guys with gym bags, people with laptops and coffee cups, and businesspeople with badges all mingle on the large stairs. It feels like a spaceship far from Earth where people have built a new life. But it is the converted monumental headquarters of the insurer Royale Belge, housing offices, event spaces, workplaces, restaurants, bars, a hotel, a library, and a huge gym with swimming pools. There are also studios where you can stay for longer periods.
Closer to home, we have The Valley on Amsterdam’s Zuidas, where apartments, retail, offices, restaurants (Nela, Green Gastrobar), and an exhibition space are connected by a green valley. Another good example is the new Y Towers in Amsterdam-Noord, featuring a residential tower and a hotel tower of the Maritim Hotel Amsterdam, which includes an enormous conference center, a rooftop bar, a wellness center, and 579 hotel rooms. There are four restaurants: from a Viennese living room restaurant to a Japanese eatery, from a high-end buffet restaurant to the highest restaurant in Amsterdam.
It is a popular form of urban development because it is sustainable. It reduces the number of traffic flows, makes more efficient use of energy and space, especially when building upwards. Moreover, it is flexible, as the buildings are often designed to be adaptable for future uses. For investors, it is a safer way to invest due to the various income streams, and for a municipality, it is beneficial to enhance social cohesion and safety in an area.
You can choose to create buildings for a specific target group, but there is a lot of experimentation with buildings where, for example, students and the elderly live together or multigenerational family houses, where both child care and elder care can be more easily organised.
For the restaurants and bars, it is good to know that in such a ‘city within a city,’ there is a guaranteed number of potential guests. During the day, there are office workers or shoppers, and in the evening, visitors and residents. Conversely, the presence of good hospitality is also crucial for such a project as it adds soul and quality.
Text: Vincent van Dijk, trend forecaster for HBMEO