E-commerce throws up new challenges for mall design

Designing a big shopping centre is more difficult and the risks are bigger than for a smaller centre, according to a panel of architects debating the issue at the ICSC annual conference in Berlin. But the biggest challenge for shopping centre design is the internet, according to Jose Quintela, chief design officer at Sonae Sierra in Portugal.

'Clients will be more concerned with their investment, planning is more difficult and most importantly from a design and use point of view, the building must integrate into its environment.'

There is an appetite and demand for big centres, but it's difficult, if not almost impossible to get planning consent for such buildings in Western Europe. Big shopping centres are now much more likely to be built in Russia, China and South America, the panel agreed.

The wrong size centre is more likely to blight, not benefit, the market, Jens Siegfried, director Chapman Taylor, Germany added: 'It's not so much about size anyway - it is still about the relevance of a centre, its location and what makes it run successfully. If we don't take the right decisions and focus on attention to detail at the design stage, it's the customer who lives with our decisions for the next 20-30 years.'

'Going large' may be the ambition for developers seeking to provide a true leisure destination with wide public appeal, but these is also a definite trend for shopping centres back in the city centre, where architects must build to a scale which matches the surroundings. And such centres benefit their environment by being more than just commercial, but offering residential and office space too. Indeed, such centres can revitalise city centres and high streets face the same challenge to be relevant and accessible as do out of town shopping malls.

Sonae Sierra's Quintela warned against mixed use buildings and called for mixed-use development instead. 'This is much easier for planning, mono-function buildings in multi-functional environments,' he said.

Toni Joergens, principal at ESP Hannover Germany, added: 'With small shopping centres you have a real chance to design something perfect. They must be places for people to meet. Our job is to ask why they would go there? Everything must be on a private and personal scale relating to the lifestyle of those around the catchment area.'

Whilst good design is key, it's the internet which is offering the greatest opportunities yet for shopping centres. Joergens added: 'There is too much negative talk about the internet. Let’s take the positive online world and implement it into the shopping centres now.'