Retail

By reviving a local retail development that was on the decline, we gave Shanghai’s Sanlin neighbourhood more than a new mall. We created a new social hub, lifestyle destination and community heart.

The rural commercial hub of Toowoomba, Australia is home to an increasingly sophisticated population who want access to the best bits of city life while retaining their town’s distinct rural character.

To bring a 20-year-old department store in Wuhan into a the K11 ​‘art mall’ stable, we took a tongue-in-cheek approach – riffing on the addictions of a ​‘shopaholic’ and turning retail into an art form.

How do we design for the lasting impacts of changed social – and shopping – needs?

For a sector already in crisis, Covid-19 looked like the final straw for physical retail. Adam Scott is one of four specialists who talked to RIBA Journal about the chance for growth and change for the better.

Advertising has the jump on designers and developers looking to engage their end users.

New spatial typologies are emerging as the retail sector responds with agility to developments in technology and market demand.

From pop-ups to playgrounds – temporary projects are as diverse as the communities they engage.

Sourceable

Set in the heart of Shanghai’s coveted Jing’An District, Park Avenue Central is setting a new standard in mixed-use developments – and giving tenants and visitors a one-of-a-kind experience.

When is a tower not just a tower? When it is a workplace that unites a previously disparate company, a bustling urban precinct, and a heritage location revitalising the heart of a city.

The idea was simple. To bring the Croydon community back to its neglected high street, the high street needed to be a safe, inherently welcoming public space.

Sensory. Significant. Free range. Open. District Des Voeux brings some much-needed breathing space into one of Hong Kong’s most important – and vehicle-choked – thoroughfares.

The new precinct is a ​‘people magnet’ where Sydney comes together to relax, to do business, to be entertained, to enjoy city living – and to share their experiences (hello, Instagram).