Espergærde Centret

Espergærde Centret is a shopping centre in Espergærde, south of Helsingør in Denmark, and is described as Denmark's oldest shopping centre. It was foreseen in the town's 1960 disposition plan and designed by the architects Per Bruun and Per Christiansen. The original plan was ambitious: it was calculated to serve 12,000 inhabitants, contain 5,500 m² of retail space and 700 parking spaces, and include a kindergarten, library, sickness-benefit office, collective house with restaurant and function rooms, church, youth centre and more. There were to be two shopping squares, with Vestertorv intended for festivities, meetings and recreational use. The centre was built in several stages, and at each stage the plans were altered until only the name remained of the original town-centre plan. The first stage comprised Vester Torv and was built and opened in 1964, roughly in accordance with the original plan, except that an entrance at the square's northern corner was omitted. The second stage comprised Øster Torv and a connecting shopping promenade; it was built and opened in 1967. Already at this stage the original plan had been departed from: the shopping promenade was made shorter, Øster Torv was moved, and a one-sided shopping promenade to the south-east was dropped. As a result, the parking layout was completely changed, and instead of two entrances to separate parking areas there was now only one. The second stage included the collective house mentioned above, but both the restaurant and the function rooms had to close after a few years. Later additions — pharmacy, childcare institutions, post office, library, church — were built in a more haphazard way that made the centre less coherent and, among other things, unsuitable for people with disabilities, with a ramp that was impossible to negotiate in a wheelchair. A partial town plan by-law for the centre area was only adopted in 1972, but it was never complied with, before or after; all the many deviations occurred under the continuing supervision of the original architects. While the centre project itself was departed from, its intended effect on the town was fully realised: it became a gathering point for the town's shops. In 1970 there were 61 shops in the whole town, 22 of them in the town centre. Ten years later, in 1979, the 22 shops had grown to 39, while of the former 39 shops in the rest of the town the number had fallen to 19. Original plans for local shops around the town proved unfulfillable. Only two supermarkets survived in local areas outside the centre: in Mørdrup and in Tibberup. In return, the town centre became a trading hub for shoppers from the surrounding catchment area and could at times attract customers from far away — even from Skåne. Over the longer term, Espergærde Centret held its own in competition with Helsingør town centre, Prøvestenscenteret on the outskirts of Helsingør, Humlebækscenteret, Nivåcenteret and others, although individual shops in the town centre have to some extent been replaced by others.

Espergærde Centret was foreseen in the town's 1960 disposition plan. The shopping centre was designed by the architects Per Bruun and Per Christiansen. It was calculated to serve 12,000 inhabitants, contain 5,500 m² and 700 parking spaces. A kindergarten, library, sickness-benefit office, collective house with restaurant and function rooms, church, youth centre and more were also planned. There were to be two shopping squares, of which Vestertorv was to be used for festivities, meetings and similar and furnished for recreational purposes. But plan and reality are two things. Espergærde Centret was built in several stages, and each time the plans were changed until only the name remained of the original town-centre plan. The first stage comprised Vester Torv and was built and opened in 1964, roughly in accordance with the original plan, except that an entrance at the square's northern corner was omitted. The second stage comprised Øster Torv and a connecting shopping promenade. It was built and opened in 1967. Already at this stage the original plan had been departed from: the shopping promenade was made shorter, Øster Torv was moved, and a one-sided shopping promenade to the south-east was dropped. As a result, the parking layout was completely changed, and instead of two entrances to separate parking areas there was now only one. The second stage included the collective house mentioned above, but both the restaurant and the function rooms had to close after a few years. That was the situation around 1970. Later additions — pharmacy, childcare institutions, post office, library, church — were built in a more haphazard way that made the centre less coherent and, among other things, unsuitable for people with disabilities, with a ramp that was impossible to negotiate in a wheelchair. A partial town plan by-law for the centre area was only adopted in 1972, but it was never complied with, before or after. All the many deviations occurred under the continuing supervision of the original architects. While the centre project itself was departed from, its intended effect on the town was fully realised: it became a gathering point for the town's shops. In 1970 there were 61 shops in the whole town, 22 of them in the town centre. Ten years later, in 1979, the 22 shops had grown to 39, while of the former 39 shops in the rest of the town the number had fallen to 19. Original plans for local shops around the town proved unfulfillable. Only two supermarkets survived in local areas outside the centre: in Mørdrup and in Tibberup. In return, the town centre became a trading hub for shoppers from the surrounding catchment area and could at times attract customers from far away — even from Skåne. Over the longer term, Espergærde Centret held its own in competition with Helsingør town centre, Prøvestenscenteret on the outskirts of Helsingør, Humlebækscenteret, Nivåcenteret and others, although individual shops in the town centre have to some extent been replaced by others.

• 1979

  The 22 shops in the town centre had grown to 39, while shops in the rest of the town had fallen from 39 to 19.

• 1972

  A partial town plan by-law for the centre area was adopted, but never complied with.

• 1970

  There were 61 shops in the whole town, 22 of them in the town centre.

• 1967

  Second stage, comprising Øster Torv and a connecting shopping promenade, built and opened.

• 1964

  First stage, comprising Vester Torv, built and opened.

• 1960

  The shopping centre was foreseen in the town's disposition plan.

Denmark's oldest shopping centre; a town-centre retail hub for Espergærde and its surrounding catchment area.

Product categories. retail shops · supermarkets · pharmacy · post office · library · childcare institutions · church

1. 1Espergærde Centret – Wikipedia (Danish)da.wikipedia.org
2. 2Espergærde Centret – Wikidatawikidata.org