The centre was built on the grounds of a former Spar shop that had not met modern standards for quite a while, boss of Spar Slovenija Igor Mervič told the opening of the EUR 9.7m project.

The grocer wanted to renovate the shop 10 years ago but was faced with a number of bureaucratic hurdles.

In response, the company and Ljubljana found common ground last year as part of which they launched a joint project. "This was no piece of cake", he said, as such partnerships are unusual in Slovenia.

This was echoed by Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković, who noted that many doubted the project to build the centre spanning 5,866 square metres.

The spaces in the public part of the centre have been given to the Polje local community, local administration services, Zalog daytime centre for the elderly, the Ljubljanska mestna knjižnica library's local branch and the local branch of the Moste-Polje music school. The centre moreover boasts sports and cultural halls.

Spar's store stretches over 1,157 square metres and employs 26 people.