Megafloor Urban Premium on a Retail Project

Urban gloss finished at 4/8 combo

Bala’s new retail pop-up is a playground, actively connecting shoppers to the brand’s design-forward fitness products.

In the recent years, e-commerce has been disrupting the operations of physical retail spaces, especially malls and department stores. But even if many people now prefer to shop through their handheld screens, the culture of hanging and dining out with others prevails. This makes way to new developments of retail spaces, such as a lifestyle mall that is smaller in size and provides more dining experience and entertainment. These smaller spaces that contain only more or less a dozen curated outlets have been gaining popularity and popped up in many cities.

Buchan has worked on large retail projects across New Zealand and Australia including Ballantynes in Christchurch, Invercargill Central and Hamilton's Centre Place. Here, principals Phil Schoutroup and Emma Ridings and client and new business lead Rachel Herzberg explore what the future of retail design might look like in a post-COVID world.