Mini Mall: A shopping mall with a compact, contemporary programme in a monumental building.
The Mini Mall has been designed by PEÑA architecture and AFARAI. The Mini Mall consists of 2500 sq. m. of retail and catering space for entrepreneurs, artists, designers and other creative minds, who will breathe new life into this unique area as from spring 2011. The development of the Hofplein Station into a compact shopping mall comes in response to a lack of affordable locations in Rotterdam where fresh new initiatives can see the light of day, but also with the aim to give the neighborhood quality boost.
The Mini Mall offers space for special catering outlets, original shop formats for independent designers, vintage clothing, high class sneakers, handmade accessories, comics & second-hand furniture. Mini Mall offers more than shopping; you can also enjoy a ‘high wine’, a latte macchiato, personal training, jazz concerts and club nights.
Its central location and authentic character make the future Mini Mall a place where both the people of the city and international visitors can feast on fashion, music, art, design and lifestyle and good food, every day of the week.
A special quality that’s added to the national monument is the public area (courtyard) through the arches where all the activities of individual entrepreneurs meet. So the monument was broken up from the street and made accessible to the public. Temporary events and pop-up formulas constitute the unifying factor within the Mini Mall and creating every time a new reality to be experienced
The specific role of the architects was broader than just the architectural design. The concept "Mini Mall" is conceived by the architects and presented as spatial and economic business model. After the elaboration of this concept to the final design, the architects made the communications and branding concept. This set up has resulted in more than 80% occupation before completion.
