Aedas’s Olympia 66 Shopping Mall in Dalian, China

Olympia 66 Shopping Mall in Dalian, China

Olympia 66 Shopping Mall designed by Aedas

Olympia 66 Shopping Mall is a statement of innovative design as a landmark in the city of Dalian, China. The design of Aedas shopping mall respects Chinese culture and urban context, with the thoughtful approach to its relationship to the street providing generous community space and plazas with an integrated landscape.

This 7-storey shopping mall in Dalian grasps the fine balance between complex form and function, responding to the immediate surroundings and local community and providing the largest shopping, lifestyle, and leisure complex in Dalian.

Aedas‘s Shopping Mall is located at Wusi Lu, a prominent avenue in the heart of the commercial and residential district in Dalian. The 63,400-squaremetre site is adjacent to the Olympia Square, a sequence of squares along the main avenue of Zhongshan Lu. To the east sits People’s Square, the home of the municipal government, whilst to the west is Xinghai Square. With great visibility from Zhongshan Lu and Wusi Lu, the project has good road transport connections and a link to the new underground railway.

Olympia 66 Shopping Mall – Design Concept

Olympia 66 Mall creates a contemporary statement with an oriental overtone, defining an iconic city destination. The design drew inspiration
from the twin carp, a symbol of wealth and abundance in Chinese culture which is typically used in Chinese New Year paintings.

The interplay of two swimming carp inspired a dynamic form which allows a loop circulation flowing through a continuous chain of retail, atrium and event spaces to the sky-plaza and central roof garden, creating an exciting and diverse lifestyle experience.

Internal curving arcs resemble the dancing carp, with the expression of a series of simple shells with the tail flowing over the curving central spine. The shells on the roof are layered to create clear storey glazing, allowing direct and reflected light into the two atrium spaces. The main façade is composed of hexagonal modules with various lighting effects recapturing the reflective scales of a carp.

Use Of Space
The building form of enhances urban connectivity and integration through multiple entrances. The continuous shop frontage at street level not only provides great visibility of retail but also makes the building totally permeable at ground level. Main entrances are prominently defined and open into generous event spaces allowing a pause before joining the vortex of circulation.

The enormous floor area is divided into open event spaces and retail areas with a central spine which runs through the center of the mall linking two large atria on each side and diagonally linking the corner entrances. Leisure activities and event spaces are sequenced along the retail route providing opportunities for visitors to rest at a cafe or take in an exhibition. Landscaped terraces wrap around the building further enhancing a relaxing shopping environment. Integrated digital signage is implemented to direct visitors the shortest routes to destinations within the building.

Three floors of basement provide service docks and 1,400 car parking spaces. Basement circulation is enhanced by the underground railway connection and two passenger drop-offs located at the sunken courtyards at B1 level.

Sustainability
In response to the northern Chinese climate, the largely solid insulated roof creates overlapping blades and clear story glazing to allow direct light into the atrium while shading summer sun, thus preventing heat loss in winter and solar gain in summer. The roof blades also serve as a big light shelf to maximize reflected light down into the atrium spaces. The project is pre-certified with a LEED Gold rating.


Project Info:
Client: Hang Lung Properties Ltd
Site Area: 63,400 sqm
Gross Floor Area: 221,900 sqm
Floor: 7 stories above ground, 3 basement floors
Completion Year: 2015

Design Team
Design Architect: Aedas
Directors: Christine Lam and David Clayton
Structural Engineer: Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd.
E&M Engineer: Parsons Brinckerhoff (Asia) Ltd.
Quantity Surveyor: Langdon & Seah China Ltd.
Traffic Consultant: MVA Hong Kong Ltd.
Lighting Designer: DUO Lighting Design + Associates