The challenge
Urban complexes lack the commercial diversity to attract young generations looking for high-quality, fashion-forward retail venues.
The solution
Different levels of street systems cut through the traditional mall layout, creating independent spaces that bring together eclectic environments.
The impact
The project reflects the city of Shenzhen, leveraging the synergy between art and technology to shape a modern yet intimate destination.
90%
occupancy rate at opening
192,500 sq m
total retail space
34%
annual percentage of shoppers anticipated from outside of the trade area
The challenge
To know the city of Shenzhen is to be familiar with a sophisticated community of architectural trendsetters. Throughout the city, new developments have embraced signature, contemporary architecture, and the Dachong MixC World project is no exception.
Dachong MixC World brings together an eclectic arrangement of retail and entertainment environments, such as a MixC shopping center, which features an exquisite high street with the latest luxury brands, a hip, art-infused retail street, and a historically conscious green plaza. Overall, the project authentically represents Shenzhen by leveraging synergies between art and technology to shape a modern yet intimate and comfortable work, live and play destination.
The solution
Arcadis, formerly CRTKL, and CR Land created a new paradigm after the success of previous MixC projects we collaborated on in the cities of Shenzhen and Shenyang. Our goal was to create an innovative shopping environment that would lead to future trends in retail development and offer an improved retail experience. The design and client team took a trip together to research retail projects in Europe that implement out-of-the-box solutions. This trip inspired the design of the racetrack-based circulation diagram, which evolved the way shoppers experience a traditional mall so that customers are led from the front of a mall past all available retail stores in a loop. The circulation diagram is now one of the standard structures for the “racetrack” circulation used in all of CR Land's new retail projects and can be applied at any scale.
The innovative "block and mall" commercial space of Dachong MixC World differentiates it from the traditional closed commercial model. The dynamic program includes distinguishable design zones, a high street with a flagship plaza composed of individual flagship stores and independent trend-setting stores, a 24-hour nightlife food street with brand-name restaurants, shopping malls, and public leisure spaces such as Water Plaza, Art and Culture Plaza, and Time Plaza. Through the innovative design of architectural form and investment positioning, the project presents a multi-layered sense of space.
The impact
As a dense, mixed-use retail and commercial area, the Dachong retail precinct will play an important role in the social life of the surrounding community. In the design process, the project fully considers the use of surrounding subway stations to facilitate pedestrians, and it actively encourages the use of public transportation systems and carbon-free travel modes, such as bicycles, etc.
Dachong MixC World also creates a natural, dynamic link that reflects the city’s history and culture through the preservation of the memory of the historical sites, the temples of the ancient kings, the Zheng temples of the ancestral halls, and the beloved banyan trees.
