Waterfall Walk and Leaping Frog Retail Centre - shopping centre revamps
REVAMPING RETAIL DESIGN FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Modern malls and shopping centres are mushrooming in nearly every neighbourhood with competition for consumers’ spending at an all-time high. No longer just a place to purchase groceries, pay bills and fill prescriptions, contemporary centres must provide a balanced mix of chic convenience coupled with stylish lifestyle solutions or risk losing patronage to nearby competitors. They must appeal to both residents and retailers.Further threatened by online retail and home deliveries, shopping malls risk devolving into industrial parks or logistics centres if they don’t evolve and reinvent themselves. Property developers and centre managers are being forced to reconsider the look and feel of their facilities to differentiate themselves, to survive and thrive.
Mall design and materials demand durable, cost-effective and low maintenance flexibility suitable for a broad cross-section of tenants and activities – from convenience stores and fashion outlets to service providers such as optometrists or tyre fitment centres, to hospitality, health and fitness and popular eating establishments. They must prioritise timesaving, community and social health and wellness, efficiently connecting consumers to retailers and each other in attractive, future-minded environments. Soft, landscaped surroundings with lots of open spaces which inspire peace and tranquility away from everyday stresses, promote social interaction, safety and security, and of course, spending.
PROJECT DETAILS
- Project Name: Waterfall Walk and Leaping Frog Retail Centre – shopping centre revamps
- Project Type: Retail
- Description: Exterior facades, pergolas, signage, walkways and wall accents, stairways & seating
- Product used: Eva-Tech decking in Savanna, VistaClad Infinity cladding in Teak, Lifespan beams in Savanna
- Date of Installation: Q4 2024 – Q1 2025
- Project Location: Halfway House, Midrand & Fourways, Gauteng, South Africa
- Size: Various
- Architect: Salome Kruger, Boogertman, & Colette Pieterse, Bar Architects
FUNCTIONAL, FASHIONABLE FACILITIES
Contemporary shopping centres such as Waterfall Walk in Midrand or Leaping Frog in Fourways, South Africa are emerging as icons of functional ‘fashionability’, offering a competitive advantage with an eye for aesthetic appeal, easy flow or navigation as well as comfort and convenience.Aside from offering ample parking and intuitive orientation to locate your selected store, these retail spaces were reimagined as entertainment venues for families and friends, offering serene and inviting open spaces and relaxing surroundings conducive to extended stays. Visitors are enticed to linger longer, explore and enjoy their surroundings, while supporting the wide cross-section of retailers.
Salome Kruger of Boogertman Architects was the mastermind behind Waterfall Walk Phase 2 in Halfway House in Midrand, South Africa.
The epitome of sculptural excellence, Waterfall Walk is a striking structure designed specifically for ‘shoppertainment’ using modern building materials. This chic, contemporary centre features creative curves and dramatic facades constructed from industrial IBR (Inverted Box Rib) sheeting in a neutral grey palette, contrasted with warm, wood-look highlights using advanced bamboo composites from Eva-Last.
The soft, natural timber tones of Savanna, consistent across the various ranges of Eva-Last products specified, soften the hard, industrial hues of the IBR sheeting and concrete structures.
Waterfall Walk highlights fluid, organic shapes and signage features on the exterior façade and perimeters, using a mix of Eva-tech Savanna balusters to create a castellated cladding look, while Eva-tech Savanna fascia boards are used for the solid cladding areas. Curved pergolas using Lifespan beams in Savanna are formed around the concrete roof structure to further echo the natural environment while introducing movement and a dynamic flow. Decorative wood-look accents using Eva-tech balusters, reminiscent of a waterfall, were installed at regular intervals between walls and walkways, linking the main entrance to shopfronts, creating continuity and connection throughout the centre.
Leaping Frog Retail Centre’s revamp saw Colette Pieterse of Bar Architects utilise various composite products from Eva-Last to introduce the wood-look elements to create a warm, cohesive, unified complex.
“The challenge was to link the different areas by introducing a natural rhythm or flow with a single architectural language,” explained Colette.
She achieved this by incorporating, and repeating, the aesthetic appeal of Eva-Last’s wood-look composite profiles for cladding, gables and porticoes to soften exterior facades and update boring surfaces.
The main entrance of Checkers, the anchor tenant, was facelifted by raising the roof creating a clean, open space, while the cladded turret and columns in teak tones of VistaClad Infinity cladding, herald your arrival.
Striking gable decorative designs using Eva-tech Savanna fascia boards, in varying lengths and orientations, add interest and movement to transform formerly boring porticoes and roofing. What’s more, decorative screening and insets using Lifespan, lightweight architectural beams, in Savanna, add a warm, inviting ambience for diners on Pizza e Vino’s and Hudsons’s windows, while also providing the backdrop to signage and entrances to different retail outlets.
Finally, sustainable, free-form curved stairway seating made from scuff-resistant Eva-tech decking was added with a matching balustrade and cladded wall to form a second piazza. Illuminated weatherproof bollards with Eva-tech Savanna fascia board insets lead pedestrians through the centre.
ON-TIME INSTALLATIONS AND UNINTERRUPTED TRADING
With significant investments required to develop, manage and maintain these spaces, architects are increasingly specifying advanced building materials that combine easy installation, design versatility and aesthetic appeal, with low maintenance durability and enhanced environmental credentials.Eva-Last’s extensive collection of advanced bamboo composites used for these centres included VistaClad cladding, Lifespan architectural beams and, Eva-Tech decking, balusters and fascia boards in authentic, consistent wood-look colourways.
Made from recycled plastic combined with eco-friendly bamboo fibres, Eva-Last products are engineered for superior wear resistance and durability, offering a versatile, sustainable design solution with which to create fashionable organic forms and structures.
The commercial use of Eva-Last composite allows for attractive passive design elements that provide practical functionality such cool shading and ventilation and weather – and wear-resistance for the ultimate low-maintenance, long-term performance.
As a result, Eva-Last products are favoured for their ability to retain their aesthetic quality over time, without the cost or concern of constant upkeep and maintenance, ensuring trading commences on-time and uninterrupted, no matter the season!
KEY INFLUENCER QUOTE
“Eva-Last’s bamboo composites provide an appealing wood-look aesthetic in consistent colourways across their ranges, suitable for a variety of applications in modern mall design,” says Salome Kruger of Boogertman Architects.
“By using the same architectural language throughout the complex using Eva-Last’s fashionable timber tones, we were able to unite the spaces while also serving more practical functions like shading, screening and seating,” explained Colette Pieterse of BAR architects.
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