March 29, 2016

By Design: An Evolving Retail Experience

Arium AE provided the architecture and engineering design services for a new regional shopping center in Maryland. The center is designed to offer visitors a contemporary experience of eco-conscious branded retail. The center features a group of successful regional small businesses that appeal to specific subcultures of foodies, environmentalists, outdoor enthusiasts, and health and wellness trendsetters.

An architectural use of honest and pure materials such as stone, glass, steel and vegetation are in keeping with the spirit of the crowdculture the center aims to attract. The juxtaposition of earthy and raw materials along with a layered organic transparency provides a living facade and a heightened sense of time and place. The design team made a conscious effort to develop a building footprint and planning module that is flexible and adaptable for leasing through the life of the building. The resultant is a structure that is not only capable of evolving, but one that celebrates and encourages evolutionary cycles of life.