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PROJECT REPORT: MIXED USE SCHEMES
intelligent ventilation systems, distancing sensors, sanitisable surfaces, motion detectors and touchless systems).” He says “it has also illuminated the importance of healthy lifestyles and our desire to maintain a connection with nature.” He adds that greater integration of nature into major schemes is “delivering new answers to how we can enhance the safety and experience of our indoor spaces in more engaging ways.” With awareness of users’ desire to be connected with nature being bolstered by research, biophilic as well as sustainable design is finding “renewed prominence,” he says. “Scientific studies have shown that living environments within indoor spaces can help to remove pollutants from the air, and new reporting has also indicated that viral infectivity decreases as air pollution decreases.”
Conclusion
and a vibrant food area,” all integrated with the botanic garden, and all under one roof. On levels three to five are a ‘multi-sports events area’ with ‘digital integration,’ e-gaming and an “iconic” staircase for audience seating to “entice a new generation of customers,” say the designers. Also on these levels are an ‘Open Lab’ Cultural Forum, a “calm public space for reading and gathering with ample seating and open views.” On level two, a themed playground “envisions a cardboard city for young children to engage with, capturing the family entertainment market.” A “children- related” trade and entertainment mix surrounds the space. Lastly, on levels four and five, the Commune Village food and beverage area is configured as an internal street with “interlocking and double storey shopfronts,” to provide a “new dining culture,” says Chua.
In terms of providing future flexibility,
a “large retail grid” means the units and spaces inside can be easily changed in the future. The open mall has very few columns in the public space, which “opens up vistas inside the building.” As part of a close focus on users’ convenience, the entrances are configured to allow comfortable access into the property from different street levels outside as well as maximising footfall for retailers.
Post-pandemic health According to Simon Chua, the pandemic has “not only shone a new light on the significance of delivering safe environments from a public health perspective (using
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The completed development comes with a ‘USP’ that it has introduced a brand new experience for shoppers and the community in general in Chongqing. The designers believe it has “elevated the standard of experiential destinations and opportunities in the city.”
The project has certainly been specifically targeted to capture the interest of the community of a diverse population, and thereby ensure their engagement with the project in a competitive retail environment. Lead8 also believe that The Ring will herald further large schemes which infuse nature to a far greater degree than before, and that it will “influence a new generation of developments that put experience, nature and community at their core.” They go as far to say that the development signals a “change of attitude towards placemaking and the evolution of ‘development’ to ‘ecosystem,’” says Simon Chua of Lead8, adding that it has already become a ‘must visit’ for the city’s inhabitants. This vindicates the team’s ambitions to provide a viable ‘green’ retail model, by “allowing the market to see that it is possible to deliver a high-quality green space for a mixed-use, transit- oriented project.” He adds: “As we hoped, this project has inspired many new future developments to push the boundaries of internal green space for large commercial projects.” This strikingly realised example makes The Ring a pioneer in combining urban, nature and community drivers in a retail setting, and one which is already being followed in other major cities.g
ADF APRIL 2022
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