An urban retail precinct which is the antithesis of a mall
Commercial Bay - Retail Precinct
A new retail model
The design team consciously banned the word ‘mall’ from the lexicon. There are no glass sliding doors or air-conditioning. This is an urban outcome, where a network of open-air, public laneways create fluid transitions. The result is a highly successful retail environment. In the first four days of opening, many retailers had hit their first month's sales targets. Today, there is a waitlist of high-calibre brands wanting to open within Commercial Bay.
The city has traditionally been a weekday trading environment and we set out to change that. It’s been amazing to witness that fundamental shift in trading habits, and particularly for the space to be humming every weekend with locals and tourists turning out in numbers for both daytime and evening trade.
We agreed at the outset that we would have failed if it looked like it could be in Shanghai, San Francisco or Sydney. It had to be deeply embedded in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Through close collaboration with Mana Whenua, the former inter-tidal location of the site led to the identification of the Pātikitiki as a motif which could bind together the project across a range of scales – from the skyline scale of the structural diagrid to the paving and natural stone inlays – the Pātikitiki is a unifying visual element which delivers a distinctive experiential outcome.
Once in a generation, a project becomes emblematic of a city’s collective vision. Commercial Bay represents a new, urban future for Auckland and its place as the capital of the Pacific.
Collective Effort
Collective Effort
