Aesthetic Woodmead Retail Park is an upmarket environment , with first grade finishes specified throughout . Shopfronts are generous at 4.5m high and feature clean lines and materials .
As the design of the shopping centre had to accommodate a 10m fall from one end to the other , the decision was taken to express the changes in level rather than hide them , and simultaneously to break up the potential monotony of an extremely long pedestrian walkway . To this end , the building is divided into a series of separate sections , each housing retail space at the same level , with the changes in level between these sections taken up with ramps and stairs , and accentuated with a series of arched facebrick piers .
At the base of the entrances , organic motifs are expressed as inlays in the floor . These features , with their textures and patterns , attract shoppers through the entrance features of main tenants . Floor pattern detail separates the forecourts from the rest of the walkway .
Indigenous landscaping has been used wherever possible , requiring low maintenance . Trees are located on the edge of the walkway and on the parking areas rather than throughout , thus creating green zones with avenues of trees . They offer shading to west facing shops and create a warm enveloping ambience in the open walkway with their dappled , screening light . Solar control was paramount in the design process . Solar studies were undertaken to establish western sun penetration into the shops . As a result , the design required oversized walkways , some 5m deep . The walkway roof also incorporates a horizontal louvre edge to filter the light falling on the shop fronts .
The food offerings at Woodmead Retail Park are grouped into two distinct zones . The first area , a restaurant court , overlooks the freeway intersection to the north and incorporates a raised open deck to take advantage of the views of the valley . The second area incorporates essentially fast food restaurants , with seating spilling out under planted trees and umbrellas on a deck raised slightly above the level of the walkway .
The shopping centre offers convenient access for the disabled , with ramps at every entrance . A 500m 2 standalone pavilion houses the News Café and is very prominent at the entrance to the site , enabling secure after hours access for evening entertainment .
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