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BEAUTY AND FUNCTION

ICSC Europe honors retail design excellence with 2006 European Shopping Centre Awards

Europe’s best retail centers integrate modern shopping convenience into historic settings, blending today’s trends and innovations with old-world ambience and culture. Take Pforzheim, Germany’s new Schlösse-Galerie. Located in the city’s downtown, the project creates a gathering place with its public roof garden. In Angers, France, the new Fleur d’eau shopping center has helped revive a downbeat commercial district with its vibrant design and traffic-attracting retailers.

To encourage such projects and reward the teams responsible for them, ICSC Europe honors outstanding projects with the European Shopping Centre Awards, given in six categories ranging from best new centers to best renovated, expanded centers.

“These awards are not about architecture, they are about how everything integrates to make the shopping center successful,” said Stephen Pragnell, president of Apsys Polka and chair of this year’s jury. “Previous winning shopping centers have led the way in showing how to integrate good design, planning, merchandising, sales results, and all other areas of shopping center management, including customer approval.”

This year’s entries represented projects in 14 countries, and the winners represent six nations. The awards were distributed at the 31st annual ICSC Europe Conference in Copenhagen last month. Centers opened, renovated or expanded between July 2003 and June 2005 were eligible for the awards. For the complete list of winners, read on.

New centers — small (under 21,000 square meters)

Winner: Schlössle-Galerie
Pforzheim, Germany
GLA: 19,146 square meters, including 43 shops on three levels
Date opened: March 2005
Owner: WestInvest Gesellschaft für
Development firm: Multi Development Germany
Architects: RKW Architekten, T+T Design
The project impressed the judges with its public roof garden, which covers a sloped concrete roof, and offers a children’s play area and a panoramic view over the hills of Pforzheim into the Scwarzwald.

ReStore Award: Fleur d’eau
Angers, France
GLA: 12,450 square meters, including 12 shops on three levels
Date opened: May 2005
Development firm: Apsys France
Owner: SCI Palais des Marchands
Architect: AU 4G
Fleur d’eau helped revitalize the historical heart of Angers, prompting this year’s judges to give it the ReStore Award, an honor reserved for shopping centers that play a significant role in reversing urban decline.

New centers — medium (between 21,001 and 40,000 square meters)

Winner: Dolce Vita
Coimbra, Portugal
GLA: 39,734 square meters, including 119 shops on six levels
Date opened: April 2005
Owner-Developer: Amorim Imobiliária
Architect: Sua Kay Architects
Dolce Vita is the first regional shopping center to open in Coimbra and serves as part of the Eurostadium complex, which also includes a multi-use sports pavilion.

Commendation: Phoenix Center
Hamburg, Germany
GLA: 29,500 square meters, including 110 shops on three levels
Date opened: September 2004
Architect-Developer-Owner: ECE Projektmanagement
With its glazed external facade, Phoenix Center Hamburg sits near the city’s suburban and long-distance train stations, making it a modern gateway to the city.

New centers — large (over 40,001 square meters)

Winner: Whitefriars
Canterbury, England
GLA: 47,564 square meters, including one department store and 47 shops on one level
Date opened: June 2005
Owner-Developer: Land Securities
Architect: Chapman Taylor
The open-air shopping center helped revitalize areas within Canterbury’s famous walls.

Winner: Arkadia Shopping Centre
Warsaw, Poland
GLA: 110,000 square meters, including 140 shops on three levels
Date opened: October 2004
Development firm: ERE Group
Owners: ERE Group, Carrefour Polska, Leroy Merlin Polska
Architects: RTKL Associates, Groupe Beg Immeuble Washington
Arkadia combines the American-style mall with European-style High Street retail.

Outlet center

Winner: Factory Vila do Conde
Porto, Portugal
GLA: 12,485 square meters, including 72 shops on one level
Date opened: November 2004
Development firm: Neinver Lusitana, Project Imobiliários
Owner: Henup Investimentos
Architect: Sua Kay Architects
This avant-garde shopping center is part of a larger mixed-use complex called Nassica Vila do Conde.

Refurbishments

Commendation: Capitol Shopping Centre
Istanbul, Turkey
GLA: 30,250 square meters, including 136 outlets on six levels
Date opened: May 2004
Owner-Developer: Capitol Inc.
Architect: Concept International Design
Capitol Mall, recently renovated after 12 years as Istanbul’s market-leading retail center, serves as an icon of the new world.

Extensions

Winner: Waasland Shopping Center
Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
GLA: 140 shops on one level
Date opened: March 2004
Development firms: ING Real Estate Development, Bouwfonds Ontwikkeling
Owner: ING Real Estate Development
Architect: Chapman Taylor
The renovation of Waasland brings Eastern ambience to Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. The shopping center’s new features include an indoor Japanese garden with bamboo accents.