The unpredictability becomes even more complex when so many retail outlets are in on single place like a shopping mall. In such case, mall acts like a small ecosystem.
There are many factors which contribute to the success or failure of this ecosystem.
There are 3 major categories of factors for a successful mall:
- Location of mall
- Mall designed
- Management approach and operations efficiency
For more details, please refer our Blog: 3 Essential Factors for Successful Malls
As Commercial Building Designers, we provide guidance to the builders on point 1 and 3. However, our core design activity is about the mall design as a building.
Design of the Mall-Façade design (first impression) and outdoor spaces, Internal ambience, visibility of shops, Overall lighting, natural lighting, public facilities, openness of corridors and public areas etc.
- Façade Design: The power of aesthetics can be easily felt while standing outside a mall. The treatment of external skin of the building should be very attractive and inviting It should be a like a well composed graphics. Presence of brands should be made clear in a very decent way. Facade should give a feeling of celebration.
It should not be cluttered with lot of elements, signages and hoardings. Any intricate design elements are difficult to clean and start looking ugly after some time. Materials should be chosen with clear understanding of their weatherproof properties. Façade is costly affair and cannot be redone so easily. - Outdoor spaces: The landscape around the building should be very well defined. Vehicular and pedestrian circulation signage should be very clear. Person should feel well guided and not lost. The surface treatment should such that it can be maintained regularly and speedily. There should be no un-organized green areas.
- Outward shops: Shops opening on outer face of the mall should be handled as part of façade scheme. Food shops with outdoor seating add to the warmth. Large clear show windows enhance the shopping impulse.
Inside planning and Environment: Internal ambience is a result of- spaciousness, look and feel of materials used, play of natural and artificial lighting.
Atrium: Having an atrium inside a mall makes it look spacious and provides good natural light. The spaciousness helps the visibility of shops as well. Natural light increases the energy of the mall.
Visibility of shops: Visibility is one of the most important criteria. Each shop needs visibility.
Corridors: Single wide corridors are best. They allow complete visibility to each shop. Branching corridors should be avoided. Even if there are branched corridors, they should make a loop and come back to connect to main corridor. A shopper feels comfortable if corridors keep coming back to main corridor. Deep corridors and dead ends should be avoided. They feel unsafe. Shops at the dead ends suffer a lot.
Lifts and staircases: Movement of people is the life of the mall. And visibility of moving people is the energy of mall. We should see people moving around. Therefore, the lifts, escalators and staircase should be placed in such a way that all movement of people is visible. Visible movement gives a sense of safety as well. Staircase may be hidden as per fire norms. Lifts and escalators can be made visible. All glass lifts work the best.
Common Facilities: Washrooms should be well designed for proper privacy No fixture of any washrooms should be visible from corridor. Proper layout, well maintained washrooms enhance the reputation of mall. Shoppers should be able to stay inside the mall for a long time. This is possible when their natural needs are also taken care of within the mall.
A dedicated customer care desk: For a busy mall, there should always be a help desk where shoppers can ask for quick information. All information regarding mall directory, promotional events, memberships etc should be available here. Most importantly, a feed back and complaint system should efficiently run from this desk.
Parking: The size of the parking area has a direct bearing on the store types and revenue. A mall should offer enough parking spaces to attract customers.
The absence of parking during weekends or on holidays, especially for car owners, could make customers feel uncomfortable and lead customers away to other stores. Apart from the comfort factor, having ample parking space is safe and helps in increasing the brand appearance of the shopping mall.
