The Lefo Mall Shopping Centre | Broadway Malyan

Located in the Wuzhong district, the Suzhou Retail Centre aims to target the young, design-conscious customer and to set a benchmark for commercial development in the region. Broadway Malyan was commissioned to provide interior design, graphics and landscape architecture expertise on the 65,000m² GLA scheme. The brief from the client was to create a contemporary and memorable retail experience, rooted in its environment and reflecting the region’s history. Responding to this, the team drew inspiration from the beautiful lakes, canals and gardens for which the area is famous. Primary void spaces within the malls have been designed with organic forms to soften and give identity to key spaces. ‘Bridges’ and ‘pools’ have been designed within the floorscape, creating seating areas, and bespoke furniture created using natural local materials has been inspired by local boat types. The landscape design reinforces this concept, using the existing canal edge, new water features, land bridges, bench seating and planting strategies to reflect the characteristics of Suzhou’s natural beauty. Being brought onto the project at a relatively late stage, the team was required to work with the interior spaces under construction, therefore the challenge was to integrate international level design proposals into a live project whilst adhering to a tight completion programme.