Westfield: The Hub
An immersive, vibrant precinct dotted with texturally and materially distinct pavilions housing eight small retail incubator tenancies
Project Overview
- Project Westfield: The Hub
- Location Chermside, Brisbane
- Year 2017
- Category Hospitality / Retail
Engaged to transform a blank 400m2 space into a vibrant precinct housing eight small retail incubator tenancies, we created an immersive, meandering space dotted with texturally and materially distinct pavilions. The unique exterior skins give identity to the purposely blank uniform interiors- ready for occupation and appropriation by the new tenant.
This initiative provides new retailers, short-term, subsidised leasing opportunities minimising fit-out costs as a gateway into shopping-centre retailing.
Objectives
Our main objective was to create a playful, permeable and welcoming precinct with a distinct architectural language. There is an intimacy to the design- manifested in the narrow width of the laneways that carve their way through the pavilions, the gentle play to the human scale, fine grain detailing and carefully crafted permeability offering curated views through to the tenancies and common spaces beyond - enticing passers-by to explore the space within.
Beyond a mere experiment in materiality and texture, the intent was to create a bold identity for each pavilion in its own right. Distinct shopfront identities that the tenants could appropriate through their individual show windows.
We created opportunities for collaboration with artists and fabricators, developing everything from specialist paint finishes to custom fabricated facades. The large-scale glass-fibre reinforced concrete tiles cladding tenancy four required prototyping and experimentation and were developed to not only be lightweight and durable but to give a sense of playful tactile texture, being embossed with palm leaves we sourced from a local nursery.
