Long Street and inspiring Kloof Street as good examples of local precedent . They looked closely at the theatre of ‘ high street ’ with its backdrop of diverse ranges of tenants , coffee shop culture , signage , shopfronts and displays , the flagstone streets , and , most importantly , the hustle and bustle of shoppers that make up the cast . It is this ambience and vibe that is so cherished in established urban contexts and cities of old yet so missed and devoid in the modern day shopping mall .
Implementation Willowbridge is a unique site and retail opportunity . Seldom is one commissioned to design a shopping centre that is to be positioned on a site with such spectacular assets as a perennial river , underutilised greenbelt and stunning views - a daunting task when faced with conceptualising a highly commercial building type .
The architects came up with the concept of re-inventing a contemporary retail ‘ high street ’ with all the convenience , security , tenant diversity and parking of a typical regional shopping mall . It was quite clear that with the Willowbridge site , positioned on the fringe of the very strong and fast developing CBD of Tygervalley , the retail offering had to be unique , not only in tenant mix but also in its planning and architecture , so that it would attract the discerning shopper through this distinctiveness and atmosphere .
It was critical that Willowbridge was designed as a building that would be a successful interface between the urban edge to the east ( as defined by the Tygervalley business district ) and the greenbelt riverine environment that borders the residential suburbs to the west . There could no so-called back-face to the building which is always a huge challenge when designing a retail centre with all its service requirements . The solution to this challenge was to ensure that even the ‘ big boxes ’ that are the majors had well articulated façades , large windows where possible and that loading facilities were carefully designed to minimise their impact . One of the great coups of this project was the positive response that Woolworths and their architects had to our desire to have windows and natural daylight in their store .
The plan layout of the centre is based on a “ high street ” model which was both influenced by the rectangular nature of the site , as well as the desire to maximise on the frontage facing
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