La Place Duinrell

Industry Hospitality & Leisure

Place Wassenaar

Customer La Place Duinrell

In May 2024, a completely remodelled La Place restaurant opened at Duinrell park in Wassenaar, while a new concept also started up on the premises: Chicken & Ribs. For this new concept with its limited menu, that allows customers to book in advance and also order in advance, Van Keulen was in charge of constructing the partitions and seating areas. The Vermaat Groep is responsible for managing these two food and drink venues at the holiday park, and Paul Tönis from Vermaat has enjoyed working with Van Keulen.

Renovation of La Place and launch of a new Chicken & Ribs concept as one project at Duinrell Wassenaar

“La Place is kind of my baby. I began working for the chain back in the V&D era and I stayed under Jumbo. Now that Vermaat runs a good 40 La Place branches, I work for Vermaat. I knew Van Keulen from our Jumbo days, but this is the first major refurbishment of a La Place branch that we have realised together. The buffet tables and bar at Duinrell are sourced from Nijverdal. Just like the seating at Chicken & Ribs. In my experience, what makes a successful partnership is generally the contact between parties. Are we able to contact one another quickly and understand one another, and is the interior designer able to rapidly translate our creative concept into practical, producible and affordable furniture? That’s what it’s all about, and at Van Keulen, they understand that perfectly.”

"When there are no material limitations and parties can trust and rely on one another, we can really make anything happen.”

Paul Tönis, Vermaat groep

Turning a new concept into an experience

Even with a new concept like Chicken & Ribs, it worked like a charm. “We wanted to develop a design that enables people to grab a quick but nice and fresh bit of food right here in the park. In terms of the atmosphere, we had decided on a mix of both high and low benches in a coupé arrangement. Even so, we did not yet know what our idea would look like in practice. That’s why Van Keulen first made a mock-up, which we played around with a bit, and then produced one sample piece. Once we were in complete agreement, production began. Of course, there was a certain amount of time pressure. This is because the La Place ‘Schaapskooi’ restaurant and Chicken & Ribs are housed under the same roof, and so they had to open at the same time.”

No material limitations

Besides speed and flexibility, Paul also noticed that almost anything can be made in Nijverdal. “Material is never a limitation, because they are able to manufacture everything in-house. For that reason, I am now in talks with Van Keulen for other assignments as well. For example, we are currently preparing a kiosk for a hospital in Emmen. This involves very different demands on material and appearance compared to a restaurant design for a holiday park or in a city, but once again, I find that we are able to work well together. When there are no material limitations and parties can trust and rely on one another, we can really make anything happen.”