Morocco Mall is the second largest shopping center in Africa with 200 000m² of floor space in Casablanca, Morocco. Morocco Mall, which opened on December 1, 2011, was designed by Architect Davide Padoa of Design International, a global architecture boutique with its headquarters in London.
The mall features a massive 1,000,000 litre aquarium that contains over 40 different species of fish. The aquarium is called "Aquadream" and was designed and built by International Concept Management (ICM). Visitors have the opportunity to take a ride through the center of the cylinder shaped aquarium with a 360-degree view of the sea life. Visitors can also go scuba diving with a professional instructor inside the aquarium.
The ambitious development, recipient of numerous awards and accolades - including a Guinness World Record™, ‘Best Retail Architecture’ (2009) and ‘Best Retail Development’ (2011) by the International Property Awards- was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI’s sister, Princess Lalla Meryem in a spectacular VIP pre-opening event on the 1st and opened its doors to the public on the 5th of December 2011. Morocco Mall, which borders the Atlantic Ocean on the Casablanca Corniche coast, is the first and only destination mall in the Mediterranean and Africa. It stretches over 10 hectares (24,700 acres) with 250,000m² (2,691,000 sq. feet) of construction, 30,000m² (323,000 sq. feet) of outdoor space and 14,000m² (150,694 sq. feet) of landscaped gardens. With 70,000m² (753,500 sq. feet) of commercial space over 3 levels and 350 stores, Morocco Mall brings together 600 brands of a large variety, many of which opening a store in Africa for the first time such as: Galeries Lafayette, FNAC and IMAX cinema. Morocco Mall, developed and managed by Groupe Aksal (Morocco), is the latest in a string of high profile projects of Design International, which have opened its door to the public over the last 12 months.