The client requested a strip mall.
Located in sunny, humid, hot Honduras, this would have meant people walking quickly out of their car to go about their business in the strip mall and just as quickly returning to their car (which is something that usually happens at strip malls anyway).
Through this project we question the validity of the typical american strip mall, and propose an alternative to it. In order to do so we propose the following concepts...
* cheat nature to provide a nice outdoor shopping/living experience
* achieve permanence of visitors through activities
* create branding for the whole project rather than for individual stores
The project will have light green roofed canopies, an assisted natural ventilation, a heat exchange system, artificial cool spots and basically an open air design. We think that well applied low tech can help us achieve an open air space in a harsh climate where it is usually forbidden to do so.
The shopping experience has been designed to accomodate activities after operation hours and rather than emphasize branding for each store, the whole envelope is a blank (or green rather) canvas that allows for creative branding.
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