DUDES architects are pleased to showcase the large and complex project "Konkors food mall". The 4200m² facility is located on the 4th floor of a shopping centre in Minsk, between the bus station and the railway station. The proximity to the train station provided the impetus for the development of an industrial style concept for the space interior. We did our work studying railway manuals and terminology, so we came up with a working name for the facility - Konkors. Concourse is a distribution hall set up between the platforms and key areas of the station. It serves to organise the flow of departing and arriving passengers at the respective exits or entrances leading to the platforms, trains, or station premises, as well as to the exit to the city. The name of the facility was approved and agreed subsequently.

The property was part of a building renovation and originally replaced the existing food mall with an open, ventilated car park. A lot of work was required to remove the existing pavement, close the contour of the building and conduct and coordinate with the design of the utilities. This was followed by the cleaning of the existing concrete ceiling and the installation of concrete floors followed by impregnation and sanding. The next step was to install the metal frames for the three-dimensional spatial interior elements that form the basis of the space concept. These include spatial entrance elements, mesh screens over retail outlets, circular metal arches, I-beam structures, podiums, a stage and an amphitheatre with seating, and stained-glass windows. The next step was to finish with finishing materials, create furniture and decorations, and plant greenery.

It was decided to divide the concept of the large facility into three parts in order to speed up the approval process and work out every detail of the interior. We divided the common hall with the catering outlets into two parts with two entrances on either side. The third part included a line of shops (wine shop, grocery, butcher's shop, cooking school), a fresh fruit and vegetable market and a line of retail benches under circular arches. After approval, we started developing the working documentation.

Based on the goals set by the client and the concept conceived, we tried to transfer the industrial atmosphere of the station square with its streets, using different techniques of large architecture in the interior. The road markings function as info graphics, imitating railway tracks. Road signs and traffic lights, elements of small architectural forms - street lights and stylised passenger signage, street graffiti and lively greenery throughout the site, all details create the impression of being in a busy, cosy, station square. We developed 27 unique catering point designs (corners). Each of the points corresponds to a design code. Materials for the corners have been chosen in line with the industrial concept: natural and rough materials which emphasise the brutality of the station street. The materials used for the corners include: clinker brick, perforated sheet metal, micro cement, profiled galvanised sheet metal, wire mesh, black sheet metal, oak veneered furniture panels, terazzo tiles and black small-format tiles. Natural oak wood in various types of impregnation was also used in the project. It is the combination of the rough materials with the warm directional lighting, the diffused light of the neon signs, and the warm wood in the furniture that creates the cosy, chamber-like atmosphere of the resulting space.

The facility accommodates around 600 seating places for visitors. Each guest area of the food mall has its own personality and a unique layout and content. There are about 10 different locations in the project, not to mention the fact that you can sit down near any corner you like with a contact bar. There are unique seating areas such as a living green wall with dining tables for large groups with a great view of the stage. Also in this area there is a replica of a seated carriage compartment (middle class in Eastern Europe). To give a true street atmosphere the whole carriage panelling is covered in street graffiti. The whole car is a focal point and one big photo area. The stage area has the largest number of dining tables, which are located underneath the railway sleepers, suspended in metal cladding under the ceiling. At the opposite entrance you can see huge letters that have already formed the word "Konkors" and they are located in a mesh tunnel. Exiting the tunnel space you are greeted by a contact bar with wooden tabletops and clinker fronts. Next to the bar is a large billiard area with plenty of greenery around the perimeter.

The resulting object is very natural and tactile in its materials. Its atmosphere is revealed in the cosy local lighting of the different areas.