Branimir Centre in the heart of Zagreb, opened in 2003, has for years been associated with the cinema located within the mall. However, the excellent position of the Centre as well as the country’s most visited cinema had not been used to their full potential as the venue did not offer content to attract and retain visitors beyond the cinema screenings for which reason the centre’s new owner, the Austrian Supernova Group, decided to take action to reposition the mall. Supernova decided to draw upon Brigada’s creative resources and so we have, together with the creative agency Señor, developed a new positioning strategy of the centre, its visual identity and interior design.
Going to the mall does not have to be an obligation, but rather an opportunity for quality time and mingling. We sought to come up with a strategy that would pin Branimir on the map of those who prefer socialising to queuing at cash register, hence the mingle mall. We analysed the habits and preferences of the existing visitors as well as of people who gravitate toward the mall. The mall has thus been redesigned in order to meet the needs of those who appreciate quality time above all – young families with children, working people who come to the mall for lunch, informal business meetings, or gym, and residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods, for whom Branimir has become a place for daily errands and socialising. What used to be a generic shopping mall has thus become a public surface and meeting place that has created value for the neighbourhood and the entire community.
The interior focal point is the food court, a meeting place where privacy is ensured by the use of rich greenery, subtle lighting, Bolon flooring, and a counter. There are also special mingling zones, the so-called minglačići, which are points for socialising, rest, or work, with seating areas of different heights, appropriate for all age groups that can use them together or separately, facing the table or turned away from it. Through our flexible design, we departed from the standard seating typologies in public areas of shopping centres in order to promote the freedom of use and give customers the opportunity to choose how they want to use them in a given moment.
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