Europa Mall
 

This multi-level city centre mall is one of Vilnius’s first modern retail developments and while it is still performing well and maintaining a good array of international and regional brands the owners recognized that for it to retain its place in the market a rejuvenation of the interior design and commercial offer would be required as newer and larger mall were constructed elsewhere in the city.  HCM was appointed to undertake this task and looked at a variety of planning and design options to maximise commercial potential while minimsing the impact on existing tenants.

 

Europa’s three trading floors are arranged as a simple racetrack around a central atrium space but footfall was very uneven in certain areas shortcomings in the circulation network.  To address this a new escalator core was introduced along with an additional cross-mall bridge to generate improved pedestrian flows.  This was combined with a new mall layout on the top-most floor to expand retail frontage and reduce the number of over-sized, difficult to let units.  The addition of a roof-level cinema was also included along with an expansion of non-retail operations to create a day-long destination ethos.

 

Alongside the main mall entrance is a civic square that is also fronted by the city mayor’s office.  Although this has an open and sunny aspect interaction between it and the mall was limited.  By re-organising the mall entrances; increasing visibility between inside and out; and creating a large F&B zone open to both environments at ground level plus a terraced F&B space on the upper floor overlooking a new set-piece landscape feature the two zones became much more closely integrated.