New Zealand Commercial Design Trends Series NZ Commercial Design Trends Vol. 33/03C | Page 126

Project
Shekou Gateway One
Location:
Shenzhen
Architect:
Spark Architects
URBAN CONNECTOR
Landscaped routes extend from the city into Shekou Gateway One’s upper level
terraces, sunken garden and event plazas, enriching the urban experience
In the face of increasing online competition,
what does the future hold for shopping malls? For
Spark Architects’ Singapore-based director Stephen
Pimbley, the jury is still out on that question.
“Everybody’s looking for the answer, but nobody
really knows how these disruptive technologies are
going to affect retail,” he says. “Things are changing
so quickly, it’s going to take about 10 years before
it settles down.”
But many of Spark’s clients are asking the firm to
look at re-energising large malls, something that’s
having to be addressed around the world.
“There’s a lot of conversation about providing
much more social space in these buildings and to
change the nature of retail by including more
functions such as education and leisure facilities.”
He also believes that retail developments need to
be integrated more into their surroundings
“The typical retail box is not really contributing
anything to the city,” he says. “Something we try to
bring to all our mixed-use projects is to make sure
they have an urban connectivity.”
He points to Shekou Gateway One as a project
that incorporates those two aspects, even though
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its planning pre-dates the online/offline challenge
that retail developers are currently facing.
Located in the South China city of Shenzhen,
the 71,600m 2 mixed-use development includes a
27-storey office tower and five retail pavilions con-
nected by landscaped terraces, to create a unique
naturally ventilated retail and business destination.
Spark director Wenhui Lim says the ideal position
for the office tower was at the tip of the triangular site,
giving it the best location for a business address and
best visibility from the city approach.
“The location of the retail component also had to
respond to Shekou’s surrounding commercial and
residential streets,” she says.
“And with a train station below, there had to be
very good connections from that to the retail at
ground level, and to the bus station between the
retail and office components.”
Stephen Pimbley says that any transit-oriented
development will have certain points of ingress and
egress that are critical to making all the business
components work successfully.
“Shekou Gateway is no different,” he says. “It
has certain aspects that fit in with the urban plan.”