Art vs. commerce is an age-old battle that developers and designers have fought for centuries – the arguments between Michelangelo and his patrons are the stuff of legend. But commerce becomes even more important when the project being designed is a retail centre, which can and must adapt over the years to the changing concerns and tastes of its customers.

In this situation, the role of the developer must do far more than just pay the architects’ bills, because he will be intimately involved in managing the project long after completion. But defining his role and creating a successful partnership with the design and construction team is a matter of delicacy.

One potential problem lies in each professional’s concerns. The CEO of a development company focuses on any number of issues, and while architecture is certainly one, it is not first and foremost in his mind. He also is concerned with leasing, management, maintenance, financing and a host of other issues, all made more complicated by the unique changing nature of a retail project.

Unlike office buildings or hotels, which also serve the public, retail centres fulfil a variety of societal roles – the exchange of goods, the need for socializing, and the need for entertainment. An office building or hotel does not, and probably should not, change or surprise its users. A retail centre absolutely must surprise its users (pleasantly) and continue to re-tenant and reinvent itself to serve a fickle public’s short attention span. It also must serve a diverse customer base, from area residents to tourists to daytime office workers.

Retail centres, thus, are much more intense experiences and require constant management, including re-leasing as stores depart and creating entertaining programs to attract shoppers. It is the developer/manager who manages those ongoing functions, and that changes his relationship with the designer, and his role in a centre’s design. He must be more involved in the initial design process, to make sure that his project will be appealing, flexible and easy to run. Because long after the designers have completed their tasks and won their awards, the developers still must operate these projects for years to come.

Yet the developer must not stifle the designer’s creativity. Because the developer is the client, and ultimately has the fiscal responsibility for the success or failure of a centre, it’s up to him to set the tone and define his role in the design process.  That basically comes down to:

a clear communication of parameters and priorities for designers based on market knowledge and their own philosophies, and

then working consistently, fairly and honestly with the architects and the contractors to balance cost-effectiveness and practicality with beauty.

The key to that balance is the business plan: the developer must know his market, his property and his budget. For example, it’s foolish to build an upscale mall in a working-class area. The developer also must be aware of any topographical and infrastructure challenges that will affect the design. He must know the size and type of centre (large, small, one-level, multiple-level, enclosed, open-air), dictated by potential catchment area. And then he must know his budget. Only when he can give the architect that information can the design process begin. That is how the designer can innovate with feasibility in mind.

DESIGN FOR DESIGN’S SAKE
The developer also must have a feeling for what a market wants and feels comfortable with in terms of layout. He can then give the architect an idea of his own vision, while avoiding design for design’s sake, such as adding palm trees to a mall in Omaha, Nebraska (a project that actually exists).  Innovative decorations or a signature look may work well for a tourist attraction such as a museum or even a hotel, but novelty wears off quickly for a project that is so integral to a community as its local shopping centre.

There are exceptions: projects such as the Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas are architecturally themed malls, in this case, evoking ancient Rome. But The Forum Shops is as much a tourist attraction as the casino it neighbours. Overall, clever manipulations of historic architecture such as at Disneyland are geared more toward tourists. Another design aspect to avoid is a signature look from an architect – a group of malls in different parts of the United States that date from the 1980s all bore Georgian-style doors at their entrances, all designed by the same firm. A shopping centre should evoke its community, not the architect who designed it.

A retail centre doesn’t even really belong to the developer who built and owns it. It belongs to the community. Culture and history play a role in the development of the vision for a project.  Considering these aspects plays into the foundation of the design process by paying homage to the past, while focusing on the present state of mind. Early on, then the developers’ role in design is to understand his audience, to reinforce that the project doesn’t belong to the designer, and convey that to the designer.

A couple of examples from the United States exemplify the idea. The Falls Shopping Center in Miami, Florida, was developed by Courtellis Development in the 1980s. A later owner then doubled the size of the centre, adding additional anchors and small shops. The idea for the expansion was to evoke south Florida’s history as a Spanish colony. Here, palm trees belong and are used to place the project in its setting. The Mediterranean-style architecture also links the centre to its surrounding area. This project won several architectural awards, and is highly successful.

Another such project that marries architecture with a strong business plan is Renaissance Place, a mixed-use development in Highland Park, Ill., a 100-year-old, affluent suburb of Chicago. The project includes retail, office space, apartments and a fine arts cinema in the middle of Highland Park’s downtown business district. Much like the surrounding area, the project incorporates brick, multiple-story buildings, and areas for people to just sit and read, meet and talk. As with The Falls, Renaissance Place is an extension of its surroundings, and gives the impression of evolving over time. It has also won awards from the Urban Land Institute for its character, style and design. 

THE PROCESS

What did these projects do correctly? Their developers followed the following precepts:

Establish parameters

Facilitate designer research

Collaborate

Control costs

Think of the future

The predevelopment process gives the developer much of the basic information needed to create a successful design – the size of the centre or centres; the type of retail that must be included to fulfil both the community’s needs and the developer’s pro forma; the community’s attitudes toward development and architectural styles; and even to some degree the configuration, based on the size and shape of the land plot. But giving that preliminary information to the architect is just the beginning of the design process.

A preliminary budget also is important. The developer must know how much he is prepared to spend and the point at which the project is no longer feasible. This number will be reassessed at every step of the design process to ensure that no errors occur, and that the project can be pushed along or stopped before too much time or money is wasted.

All of this helps the developer guide the architect. The same data that gives the developers’ leasing staff information on what retail is missing in the community also gives background on a community’s mores and non-retail needs, be they a community gathering place, prayer room or playground. The developer must supply this information from the beginning to give the architect his vision – the design parameters to work with. The budget, too, helps to guide design and material choices.

But even in situations where developers have a strong design sense, most architects will need to do their own research. The developer must facilitate that, allowing sufficient (but not exorbitant) budget for travel and exploration, where appropriate. Nakheel Shopping Malls sent its U.S.- and Dubai-based design firm around the Middle East to examine the architectural elements that will make its upcoming Palm Mall Deira a truly Middle Eastern centre. The architects visited citadels and souks, and examined courtyards, mosques and prayer rooms to find the details that will make the centre instantly comfortable to its users. The result is a project that will feel like a particularly well-appointed home, and will welcome its users like family.

Once all of that has been given to the designer, the developer just doesn’t walk away – these projects are complex, and collaboration is critical. (Though more than one architect undoubtedly would call it interference!) The give-and-take of regular meetings helps create a more useful, practical centre. While it’s the architect’s job to interpret the developer’s vision into reality, the developer also must learn to trust the architect’s work, even if it means letting go of a long-cherished idea, to make the project succeed. Even though the developer makes the final decision, compromise is key. 

Compromise is true particularly of another major requirement for developers – controlling the costs. This is particularly challenging today as commodity prices fluctuate wildly, resulting in skyrocketing construction costs that are rising faster than rents. Yet responsible spending must be balanced with a commitment to quality.

As a result, the developer’s role has expanded in recent years to include pushing his designers to find affordable materials, regardless of their location. For example, the credit crunch in the United States has stalled many projects, allowing developers in other parts of the world to purchase their steel and other materials. The developer also should track new technology and materials himself to make sure that he is getting the most for his development funds.

All of that flexibility also will be important as the developer looks to the future. The shopping centre has evolved in North America and elsewhere from simply a place to shop to a downtown core for suburban communities, but this means that the projects themselves must be more flexible to remain relevant for decades. Today’s developers are asking designers to look not just at what a market’s needs are now, but what they could be 10, 15 or 20 years from now.

That isn’t easy to predict, but it is essential. The Houston Galleria mixed-use complex was truly suburban when it opened in the 1970s. Today, Houston has expanded beyond it, and the mall has become a second downtown. When Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai opened in 2001, little development surrounded. Today, Dubai has grown around it, affecting the expansion that is taking place.

The developer must think long-term about how a project will evolve if a market continues to grow, as in the examples above, or if the trade area undergoes demographic change – the young single professionals shopping at a centre today may be young families in a decade. The family with teenagers today will be grandparents all too soon. The landlord must consider how that will affect their needs and design accordingly. Can a parking deck be converted to residential space in 15 years? The developer must push the architects for designs that will give him that flexibility, particularly in still-evolving areas of the world like Dubai, Eastern Europe, India or China.

By following these precepts,

by determining realistic parameters and giving them to the designers early;

by permitting the designer to do the research needed to interpret those parameters;

by engaging in healthy communication with a willingness to compromise;

by using all of the above to control costs to create fiscally responsible projects;

and by keeping an eye on future needs,

The developer will have done all he can to ensure that the designer will create an innovative, high-quality centre with an aesthetic that will appeal to his shoppers. He will have created a project that not only looks spectacular, but also makes a community. And both developer and designer have done their jobs.

Please login or register to add comments