C and C | Architettura Ingegneria

"Giotto" Shopping Centre, Padova

Competition by invitation only, restoration and restyling project

There were four project objectives: regenerate the Centre’s image with the use of colour; enlarge the perceived interior area through the use of lighting; update the architecture and facilities through restoration work; and create an ‘event space’ in the garden situated on the top of the centre.
Our research initially identified the colours for the outer intervention (red, yellow and green) which restored the façades. It also outlined the glass window replacement, which would transform these into big screens, and studied a new layout for the logos of the businesses located in the Centre.
Inside the Centre, the light blue, grey and brown colours draw attention to the refurbishment of the false ceiling, which was intended to radically transform the interior lighting and new information signs.
 
To improve the customers’ experience, we chose to add a green area at the side of the building, protecting pedestrians from the cars moving around in the parking area, and to transform the decor into islands to facilitate the management of customer flows.
 
The garden situated on the top of the Centre was intended to be a sustainable island (with a rain water collection point, a large solar panelling park, etc.), a play area for children and a relaxing space for adults. This garden can also host events outside the Shopping Centre’s opening hours thanks to new accessible interior walkways, made possible by alterations to the internal circulation system (escalators and two new lifts).
 
The project took special care to re-design the Centre’s ‘night look’ thanks to three basic lighting settings, which can also be combined. These lights can create multiple scenarios and can even be animated by multiple colours. These lighting effects can be heightened by the use of coloured lights (programmable LED bars) and glass windows illuminated from behind. In this way, it is possible to inform visitors of any specific business related activities, festivities or other events.
 
The lighting in the car park, from street lamps, creates an additional information layer and can function as an attractive element which, together with the new logo project, can visually signal the presence of the centre along the important transit road of via Venezia.
 
The project team included: Alice Canova (City planning and plan regulations), Luigi Conte (Flooring), Fabio Crepaldi (Decor), Gabriele Favaro (Renewable energy), Marco Frison (Electric and special equipment), Alvise Martini (Coating systems), Giuseppe Nurcato (Curtain walls), Domenico Spinola (Green area), Luca Tagliafico (Design and illustrations), Nicolò Zanatta (Photography) and Marco Zanon (Structures).