黑洞社区

Retail is taking over the world. Once upon a time, developers were content to build a big box on the edge of town and surround it with car parking. But no more. Today鈥檚 shopping centres have far loftier ambitions, from entertaining consumers late into the night to rejuvenating entire city centres.

Never mind gloomy predictions of cash-strapped consumers staying at home. The development pipeline presents a much more confident picture. According to the British Council for Shopping Centres, there are nearly 120 new centres in the development pipeline over the next five years and 12 of these will cover more than 180,000m虏.

The new buzzword is 鈥減lace-making鈥�, creating whole new districts of spending opportunities, seamlessly integrated into urban centres. Die-hard shopaholics don鈥檛 even have to go home. At Grosvenor鈥檚 vast Liverpool One development, for example, there are 600 apartments and two hotels as well as 160 shops spread over four distinct retail 鈥渄istricts鈥�.

Residential space is increasingly a feature of developments, not only to meet planning targets but because developers realise the contribution it makes to integrating centres and making them 24/7 destinations. QS firm Cyril Sweett estimates that shopping centres will include about 36,000 residential units over the next five years.

You could argue it started in Birmingham. When the 拢500m Bullring threw open its doors to eager shoppers in 2003, it didn鈥檛 just signal an upturn in the fortunes of Britain鈥檚 second city, but a reinvigoration of the concept of shopping centres themselves. The Bullring wasn鈥檛 an antiseptic monolith on the edge of town, it was a thriving addition to the city centre, with shops, offices and housing and an architectural icon to boot.

A more prosaic explanation is that government planning policy has outlawed out-of-town developments, and driven development back into built-up areas. It has decreed that 40% of new retail development is to take place in town centres over the next 10 years. John Wakes, director at architect 黑洞社区 Design Partnership (BDP), has seen the trend come full circle. 鈥淲hen I started out it was about retail schemes in town centres. Mixed-use then stopped and it was more about out-of-town as it was easier to get to. You could build the perfect shopping centre with a car park all around it and all the space retailers wanted. Now we are back into towns. With the urban agenda have come briefs from local authorities who want mixed-use residential and shopping developments.鈥�

Retail is being deployed as a force for regeneration in struggling rundown city centres, he adds. 鈥淭he next generation of schemes will change the character of town centres if a place is failing. It鈥檚 not just about shopping. The less a place has going for it the more civic pride it has and the more people want to change it.鈥�

In Derby, for example, Australian developer Westfield鈥檚 explicit intention with its 拢340m scheme was to give the city a much-needed new hub. 鈥淲e鈥檝e brought a heart to Derby,鈥� explains Peter Miller, Westfield鈥檚 development, design and construction director. 鈥淣ot just to buy things but to socialise it鈥檚 a leisure destination, it鈥檚 experiential, and there is retail, entertainments, leisure, everything that makes a city great.鈥� The 100,00m虏 centre is anchored by retail stalwarts Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, but it also has a multiplex cinema. Miller singles out the 800-seat food court as the heart of the scheme. 鈥淧lacemaking has always been important to us; we want wonderment, surprise, pride, and awe from our customers.鈥�

Creating a 24/7 destination also stacks up very healthily for developers, and can help them meet the costs of those expensive centre sites. Peter Cleary, head of retail development at Land Securities, was involved in the Bullring development and has recently led the 拢150m Princesshay scheme in Exeter, which opened in September. He says. 鈥淚f you go to Princesshay at 9pm the shops may be closed but the bars, restaurants and cinema are open. The big advantage of mixed-use schemes is that we鈥檙e seeing an end to a time where city centres are deserted by 5.30pm every evening.鈥�

Princesshay is a good example of another new developer obsession good design and blending into the local area. It鈥檚 right next to Exeter鈥檚 historic cathedral and the materials and designs were chosen to blend in with the natural stone around it the result of tireless canvassing of local opinion.

Retailers are also becoming far more design conscious, not least because city centre locations put them under much greater scrutiny. Architecture is enjoying a much higher prominence in both the public and property consciousness. Not only do bodies such as Cabe and English Heritage keep a close eye on the contribution schemes make to town and cityscapes, developers are coming round to the idea that good design can itself draw and keep customers.

Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) is redeveloping the Westgate centre in Oxford, a 拢300m scheme due to open in 2011. Martin Ellis, construction director at CSC, says: 鈥淥xford is a dreaming spires city, which means we can鈥檛 plonk a monster from outer space there. It must be more accessible. There is a lot of cross-street integration into the city. Our centres form part of the local street structure 18 or 24 hours a day.鈥� The centre, which has been designed by 黑洞社区 Design Partnership and Allies and Morrison, will be made up of five different buildings, deliberately reflecting the historic surroundings at the west end of the city. But the scheme is also close to the eastern side, so the designers included three east-west lanes to open up walkways between the two sides.

Some of the most striking innovations have concerned shopping centres鈥� roofs, either to be replaced by a clear covering or not at all. At Land Securities鈥� new centre in Livingston in West Lothian, the roof is the defining feature. It鈥檚 made of ETFE the same material as the roof of the Eden Project in Cornwall with a steel frame, chosen in preference to glass as it鈥檚 lighter, more durable and can be recycled.

Jon Emery, managing director of UK development at Hammerson, explains that customers might stay longer in an uncovered environment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a reaction to the mall and about extending dwell times, and making them feel comfortable in environments.鈥�

At Hammerson鈥檚 拢245m Cabot Circus in Bristol, due to open next September, Emery says he chose to top the main retail space with 鈥渁n amazing roof that floats through the space鈥�. The 92,000m虏 scheme is split into three areas on a grid system, which he compares to the court at the British Museum, designed by Foster + Partners.

Hammerson harbours much greater architectural ambition than developers of old. In Leicester, its 拢210m refurbishment of the Highcross centre will be anchored by a John Lewis store designed by international star Foreign Office Architects. 鈥� It鈥檚 an extraordinary piece of architecture in a similar way that Selfridges was to Birmingham,鈥� says Emery. 鈥淚t鈥檚 based on historic industry in Leicester and it has a quality fabric as a cladding material, which is enhanced by triple-layered glass.鈥�

Sustainability is as big a drive in shopping centre developments as it is for everything else. Michael Green, chairman of BCSC, insists it is a top priority: 鈥淪hopping centres of the future will be sustainable and developers are absolutely aware of it.鈥�

Two-thirds of shopping centres鈥� energy costs are from heating and lighting, so opening them to the elements gives an immediate reduction. Removing roofs and walls also reduces the need for air-conditioning. Oxford鈥檚 Westgate, says Ellis at CSC, is covered from wind and rain but is essentially an outdoor environment. At Leicester, Hammerson is taking out all the air-con and replacing it with natural ventilation.

Developers are also exploring combined heat and power, biomass boilers and water harvesting, though the size and complexity of mixed-use developments makes for varying success levels. 鈥淐ombined heat and power is a no-brainer. Supermarkets are doing this with the heat generated from power systems. But how to do it in mixed-use developments is much more challenging. It鈥檚 a big risk for a developer,鈥� says BDP鈥檚 Wakes.

But Ellis at CSC is optimistic. 鈥淚f you asked me two or three years ago whether sustainability was a pain, I鈥檇 probably say, yes it is. But it is the right thing to do now. We鈥檙e getting better, it鈥檚 less of a pain and there are some savings.鈥�

The Westgate centre will have a biomass boiler to provide heating and hot water for the new anchor John Lewis and there will be 12-15% on-site renewable energy. Solar tracking models have been used to make sure daylight is maximised and the centre will be connected to a combined heat and power plant, which the council is researching. The project has been BREEAM-rated 鈥渧ery good鈥�.

But what about the weather? There will always be a place for the covered mall, hastens Westfield鈥檚 Miller. Derby is enclosed: 鈥淲e wanted to do that and the council wanted it too. We mustn鈥檛 forget that we鈥檙e in a fairly harsh climate,鈥� adds the South African-born developer, at some risk of being called nesh by his customers.

It seems that even those ambitious developers baulk at trying to rein in the elements.