The design team for the Animation City Retail Centre in Guangzhou combined a creative analysis of the market with the client brief, to produce a unique and successful design outcome. Woodhead’s innovative design has captured the market theme of the exciting animation industry and the spirit of youth in the 21st century.
The new 25,000m2 retail centre spans three basement levels with entries at each level from the Front Park Metro station. The animation theme emerged as a set of new marketing concepts which were then transformed into a lively, vibrant and dynamic aesthetic.
Entry is gained to the retail centre from ground level above through two sunken stairs 60 metres apart at each end of the Plaza. The escalators and flat glass roofs are part of the original Metro design. The addition of organic steel mesh canopies sails and lighting over the top extend the vibrant theme and draw people down through the three level atrium spaces at each end of the centre.
The sails stretching between the glass roof and the frame are designed to filter and shade direct sunlight, emulating leaves in the canopy of a tree. At night time, the sails and structure of the canopy are lit with changing colours to provide exciting and dynamic focal points in the plaza and with the urban context.
The design layout encourages shoppers to congregate at the central core of the centre where the comic and animation culture is most prolific. The centre development is the focus for the rapidly growing digital industry and a boost to China’s world leadership in this field.
Awards:
- Retail/Leisure Project of the Year Asia Pacific Real Estate Awards 2006
- Innovative Design Award for China’s Commercial Real Estate; Design Award for China’s Most Valuable Investment
- Commercial Real Estate of the Year CREE China 2006
