Café Eindhoven | A Tip from Rik
In the heart of the city centre you will find one of the most talked-about buildings of the past few years: the former V&D building. Nowadays this location houses a number of exciting, temporary initiatives, including Rik's tip of this week: Café Eindhoven.
Former V&D building
The origin of this location goes back a few years. In 1965, department store V&D moved into the brand new building, as there was a greater demand for retail space. With 20,000 m2 of clothing, furniture, household items and even a supermarket in the basement, it was a popular department store for quite some time. However, over 50 years later, in 2016, V&D went bankrupt and the huge building on the Rechtestraat became vacant.
Since June 2017 the ground floor is once again open for visitors, as Warehouse of Innovation. The project is an initiative of Ellen Albers, Harm Rensink and Nicole Dillisse and is a showcase with three central themes: mobility, energy, and health. This is done by offering space to the business community, government institutions, tech students, designers, start-ups and partners from the education and technology sector. So far, among others, the local Library, the national army, and the TU/e have organised temporary exhibitions.
Café Eindhoven
Café Eindhoven opened inside the Warehouse of Innovation a couple of months ago. The entrance of Café Eindhoven is located on the side of the Vrijstaat. Inside you immediately come across a bar and a colourful, Instagrammable collection of decoration, sofas, chairs and tables. In this cosy corner you can relax and have a drink or open your laptop and get some work done. Lectures with drinks are often organized on Thursday and Friday evenings. Tip: try their tasty Calimero menu with different egg dishes!
The rest of the large space has been transformed into an Urban Lab, filled with table tennis and table football tables, trampolines, dart boards, and other sports equipment. Ideal for anyone who wants to get in shape or for those who are looking for a fun activity on a rainy afternoon.
Future of Warehouse of Innovation
There is an ambition to do more with fashion in terms of programming. For example, it has already been the location of Modebelofte, a platform for innovative fashion talent, for two Dutch Design Weeks in a row. The organisers are open to new ideas, so you are free to come up with a creative proposal. For the time being, the building has not (yet) been sold and you can still visit it in the near future! Perhaps to challenge Rik to a game of table tennis.
Rik studied architecture and is a city guide in Eindhoven. Every two weeks he shares a tip.
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