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Designers working with Tesco Lotus stress everyday practicality without sacrificing aesthetic appeal in new community malls
Nina Suebsukcharoen
Community malls are all the rage in the retail world, with many operators jumping on the bandwagon that the small-mall specialist Siam Future Development Plc got rolling with J Avenue and other such outlets.
Among the new entrants is the hypermart operator Tesco Lotus, which has hired the design firm Woods Bagot Thailand to create a distinctive look for its new small malls.
Royy Cheenprachar, Woods Bagot Thailand's senior architect, said the new retail phenomenon reflected zoning changes that make it more difficult to develop large shopping centres in heavily populated urban areas. Consumers worried about their transport budgets also appreciate having an interesting place to shop closer to home.
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| The Phetkasem 81 site is being developed as an O@sis, one of three community mall formats designed by Woods Bagot for Tesco Lotus. |
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| Parking at Bang Buathong and other sites is in the front so shoppers can get in and out quickly. |
The design challenge for Tesco Lotus, a mass-market retailer, is to create an attractive space that is also casual and user-friendly.
"We can say we are not targeting the high-end market ... and we would like it to be a place where you can just get up in the morning and go out for coffee in your pyjamas without feeling intimidated by the architecture or the space or the types of stores," said Mr Royy.
"The type of product we are working on is a little bit down to earth - you can go there in shorts and a T-shirt, you don't have to wear nice expensive shoes, you can wear sandals"
Chanida Aue-apaikul, Woods Bagot's project director, said functionality was important to Tesco Lotus: its community malls will be places to do the daily shopping, not necessarily trendy venues to see and be seen.
Tesco Lotus plans to offer three formats. The first, branded 'the O@sis', has already opened near Nichada Thani on Samakkhi Road. The total leased area is just over 2,000 square metres with a 300 sq m Tesco Lotus Express store as an anchor tenant. The other two formats are 'the P@rk' and 'the G@rden'. All three are designed to meet the needs and lifestyles of particular communities and neighbourhoods.
Mr Royy said the differences among the three formats lay in both planning and the materials used. "When we talk about the G@rden you can expect to see something very down-to-earth, one level and simple to construct. ... The P@rk is pretty much the same as the O@sis, the difference would be the materials used and the way we treat the facade. It would not be as luxurious as the O@sis, but planning and everything else is pretty much the same."
Another striking difference is that parking will be in front and not at the back to make it easier for customers to stop by. "Tesco's target is everyday customers," he said. "The convenience of the buyer is the important thing because they arrive, park their car, do their shopping, they don't spend two to three hours there. ... Basically, for this type of market, we don't expect them to come and hang out."
This does not mean the malls will lack aesthetic appeal. There will be landscaping, a courtyard and perhaps a fountain but they are not located at street level but are schemed in further within the complex.
As community malls are home to other retailers besides the main operator, those located on the second floor are usually apprehensive about lower traffic volume, but Mr Royy pointed out that design can help. One technique is to locate the staircase at the rear and make sure the last shop is no more than 10 metres away from it. Also nearby could be other essentials such as restrooms, ATMs and telephones.
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| Royy: "Down to earth design" the mission |
Chanida: Many ways fro stores to stand out |
Ms Chanida said shopowners too can do a lot to ensure that shoppers enter their outlets. "If they don't have anything to attract people, people won't pay attention or remember, 'Oh, I saw that shop, pink colour,' something like that. Try to bring out the character of the shop."
The easiest way to carve out an identity is to use colours but they do not have to be bright, she added. "Anything that can make people remember - logo, colour ... there are 100,000 ways to decorate, it depends on how you want your shop to look, make people remember."
Mr Royy adds another tip, which is to open up the storefront so that people can see the activity within. "Don't put too many stickers on the windows, it obscures the view. The only thing that can attract a buyer to your shop is your merchandise. If you're running a restaurant they should see what kind of food you serve ... so when you walk by you see people eating, enjoying, having a good time."
Some shop owners put a lot of merchandise right up front but Mr Royy warned that displaying too much simply obstructs the view of everything else within.
Ms Chanida, who has done a lot of corporate and retail design, noted that this field is differs from others, especially hospitality where the focus is on beauty, because in retail the most important factor is functionality.
Clients also want to maintain their standard and sometimes they even give her booklets showing the exact shades to be used.
As with everything else, the most limiting factors is the cost and style that clients want. "We may try to present something modern, we believe it's good, but they say, 'No, we don't want to be modern, we are in this business, we want something elegant and maybe a little old looking, so not modern with steel frame and a lot of glass'."
Given today's higher costs, Ms Chanida says she also has to check frequently with contractors to see whether they have marked up their prices again.
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