RIVUS restores 14 ha of industrial brownfield back to the city, transforming the former Carbochim platform into a mixed-use complex highlighting socialising, nature, and culture. The priority was to keep business running in Carbochim, the largest local manufacturer of professional abrasives, relocating and upgrading its facilities using a EUR 7 million investment, according to Business-Review.eu.
RIVUS is the first concept implemented in Romania by world-renowned Dutch architecture practice UNStudio, in the form of a mixed-use complex with possibly the widest functional diversity nationwide (retail, office, culture, entertainment, park) and a 165,000 sqm total leasable area.
An interactive, green, and accessible part of Cluj
Although located just 15 minutes from the city centre, the former industrial platform has restricted the development of connectivity in the area. Therefore, this project undertakes comprehensive efforts regarding mobility, with a new bridge and pedestrian walkways across the Somes River, upgrading adjacent streets, new roundabouts and bicycle lanes. These features will ensure optimal vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian accessibility for the project, connecting the entire area with the rest of the city.
“RIVUS is a model of resilient urban design, distilled from our last 15 years of experience in developing and operating urban regeneration projects. A project inspired by the expectations of the community, based on sustainable development strategies, and bringing people together in an integrated space that blends innovation, culture, nature, and business,” says Raluca Munteanu, Development Manager at IULIUS.
From industrial platform to leisure destination
RIVUS will be the largest lifestyle centre in Romania, proposing possibly the most diverse mix of uses and first-to-market concepts, in a development format that proved its performance in completed IULIUS projects in Iasi and Timisoara.
RIVUS will integrate the largest retail area nationwide (145,000+ sqm GLA) accommodating 400+ brands, a fresh market, a medical hub, sports and wellness facilities, interactive entertainment centres for all ages, first-to-region cinema technologies and an open-air cinema, very strong family-friendly and home&deco anchors, plus international coffee shops and concept-restaurants.
RIVUS will include a performing arts centre (in partnership with the local cultural community) and an auditorium—a premiere for the Romanian real estate market. The cultural component will be located in a former industrial hall that will be preserved, while the iconic administrative building will accommodate coworking spaces and services.
Future-forward architecture: symbiosis between sustainable design and nature
RIVUS leverages the connection with the Somes River, which will be integrated into the project and made accessible for the first time to the general public. The strong natural component, which all IULIUS projects are known for, includes a new urban garden spanning 52,000+ sqm, with 700+ mature trees and trees salvaged from the former industrial site, 100,000 decorative plants, a Japanese garden, plus green façades and roofs. RIVUS embodies an innovative and sustainable approach based on New European Bauhaus principles, from site identification to combat urban sprawl and remedy an urban heat island, through the design phase facilitating green mobility, green spaces, nZEB buildings, inclusive and biophilic design, biodiversity-friendly natural materials, studies for optimal natural lighting, management technologies and systems for efficient operation and low resource consumption, and even power generation via photovoltaic panels.
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