COMMERCIAL
FACILITIES

Fitting out spaces to encourage people to buy is a very old practice that has taken many different forms over the years. The first large shopping centres were built in the United States in the 1960s, followed by Europe and the rest of the world. Whether located in city centres or on the outskirts of urban areas, they are designed in line with a number of rules such as being easy to access, offering free parking, being open, spacious and air-conditioned, and including places to eat and drink. In the face of changing consumer habits, especially ever greater competition from e-commerce, shopping centres have been reinventing themselves in recent years in order to maintain their appeal.

Artelia participates in numerous projects to create, extend or upgrade them with this aim in mind, often for major real-estate companies. We help them keep pace with these new trends, involving integrating these large retail spaces more effectively, opening them up to the wider urban area, or transforming them into micro-cities housing a wide variety of services and amenities in addition to retail. Optimising pedestrian movements, creating inviting green spaces, encouraging natural light, carefully choosing ambiances and materials, and developing digital services and connectivity are the key features of these new trends, which aim to be more user-friendly and offer improved performance, particularly from an environmental point of view.