Analysis about the downfall of retail strips in the Netherlands and proposal about their uplifting and preservation as an important economic, social and architectural issue.
RE-STORE 1/5 1. PROLOGUE Retail strips in post-war (residential) areas in the Netherlands are failing because of two main concatenated phenomena and, as a consequence, their preservation becomes an important economic, social and architectural issue (Soeterboek, 2005). 1.1 Change in demographics and (subsequent) shift in consumers demands and habits Change in demographics includes not only the complex immigration phenomenon, hence people seeking completely new and different products (new demands), but also the simple rejuvenation and aging of the population which has new habits and needs, new means and ways to purchase things. Improvement in technology has led to increasing enormously the shelf life of perishable commodities (mainly food, but also pharmaceutical drugs, etc.) and the consequent possibility for consumers to store many items at once for very long time. This has led consumers to favour bulk purchases (weekly and monthly) over single-item acquisitions (daily). Since retail strips were supposed to answer the daily necessities (mostly food-related) of the neighbourhood, we can see how this shift in consumers habits has led to the perishing of these local stores. In general retail strips have shown over time to be unable to compete with the new challenges of retail. 1.2 Competition from historical cities’ shopping centers and shopping malls The historical cities’ shopping centers and the shopping malls can usually rely on good location, recognizability, accessibility and amenities (recreational features). Usually the historical shopping center strength relies on proximity, shops complementarity, products quality and beautiful setting. The recognizability is expressed by the specific character of the site. On the other end, the shopping malls rely mainly on convenience in terms of price (big storage facilities) and location (easily accessible by car and located along main road arteries). The recognizability relies on the sheer size and visibility of these conglomerates along the landscape and highways. In addition the shopping experience inside a mall is not affected by adverse weather or safety conditions. 1.2.1 Quality of the shopping experience All these factors affect the quality of the shopping experience. In part, the lack of appeal in the retail strips shopping experience is due to the physical context in which the shopping happens, which cannot compete with the charming and thrilling experience of the historical city centers. In part, the lack of appeal is due to the poor array of offered products, which cannot compete with the range of produce, with the vast and complete retail experience a shopping mall can offer. It is a matter of attractiveness (of the surrounding environment and the store itself) and scale (size of store facilities, variety of products and prices). 1.2.2 Consumer catchment areas Failing to attract customers, retail strips have further reduced their, already limited, consumer catchment areas, so that not even the neighborhoods for which they were built rely on them anymore. Improving the attractiveness of the shopping experience by re-designing the built environment, allowing for expansions, landmarks and events, may allow the catchment areas to grow beyond the neighbourhood boundaries. 1.3. Preservation of character and role The downward spiral of these shops reflects (and it is reflected by) the downward spiral of certain aspect of neighborhood life, mainly in social and environmental terms. The detriment of these shops leads to the detriment of the surrounding physical and social environment, increasing segregation and crime phenomena, with the consequent loss of living quality and property values. Some of these buildings have also an historical value as they show a nuanced and complex picture of the development of the modern movement, the rise of the modern city and its influence on society. In some cases (see the cases of Dr. Struyckenplein in Breda and Houtweg in Emmen) the buildings have already been transformed or torn down, but while we may lose some of the architectural features of these modern-historical neighborhoods, we have to preserve the essence of the context and the role of the retail strips within it (Wagenaar, 2011). 2. PROGRAM In order to rescue the retail strips and restore their leading role within the neighborhood life, we need to tackle their current weaknesses and follow specific principles of economy, feasibility and sustainability. If we succeed we may be able to instill new life and social relevance into these stores (Raatgever, 2014). 2.1 Dealing with the stores image, hence attractiveness and recognizability The retail strips need to present not only an organised and attractive stores, but also a charming and recognizable urban context. Public spaces and areas facing and surrounding the retail strips need to be redesigned to receive and welcome customers: more greenery and amenities, partial sheltering from bad weather conditions, coziness. Often the retail strips do not offer the sense of coziness and security that historical city centers or shopping malls are able to provide: these elements are determined by building proximity (scale and relation between open and closed spaces), sheltering, people proximity, urban furniture, greenery, quality of natural and artificial lighting. To achieve the desired result, besides intervening on refurbishing the existing, in some cases it will be necessary to add new simple structures, such as canopies or enclosing elements which can be prefabricated and adaptable to the different location settings. 2.2 Maximizing the shopping surface, both internally and externally On the one hand the stores need to use as much space available inside the buildings in which they are located, hence conceivably using also the second level (usually intended for residential purposes, but often vacant). On the other hand, the areas just outside the stores have to take part and Re-Store THE UPLIFTING OF POST-WAR RETAIL STRIPS IN THE NETHERLANDS
Transcript
RE-STORE 1/5
1. PROLOGUERetail strips in post-war (residential) areas in the Netherlands are failing because of two main concatenated phenomena and, as a consequence, their preservation becomes an important economic, social and architectural issue (Soeterboek, 2005).
1.1 Change in demographics and (subsequent) shift in consumers demands and habits
Change in demographics includes not only the complex immigration phenomenon, hence people seeking completely new and different products (new demands), but also the simple rejuvenation and aging of the population which has new habits and needs, new means and ways to purchase things. Improvement in technology has led to increasing enormously the shelf life of perishable commodities (mainly food, but also pharmaceutical drugs, etc.) and the consequent possibility for consumers to store many items at once for very long time. This has led consumers to favour bulk purchases (weekly and monthly) over single-item acquisitions (daily). Since retail strips were supposed to answer the daily necessities (mostly food-related) of the neighbourhood, we can see how this shift in consumers habits has led to the perishing of these local stores. In general retail strips have shown over time to be unable to compete with the new challenges of retail.
1.2 Competition from historical cities’ shopping centers and shopping malls
The historical cities’ shopping centers and the shopping malls can usually rely on good location, recognizability, accessibility and amenities (recreational features). Usually the historical shopping center strength relies on proximity, shops complementarity, products quality and beautiful setting. The recognizability is expressed by the specific character of the site. On the other end, the shopping malls rely mainly on convenience in terms of price (big storage facilities) and location (easily accessible by car and located along main road arteries). The recognizability relies on the sheer size and visibility of these conglomerates along the landscape and highways. In addition the shopping experience inside a mall is not affected by adverse weather or safety conditions.
1.2.1 Quality of the shopping experience All these factors affect the quality of the shopping
experience. In part, the lack of appeal in the retail strips shopping experience is due to the physical context in which the shopping happens, which cannot compete with the charming and thrilling experience of the historical city centers. In part, the lack of appeal is due to the poor array of offered products, which cannot compete with the range of produce, with the vast and complete retail experience a shopping mall can offer. It is a matter of attractiveness (of the surrounding environment and the store itself) and scale (size of store facilities, variety of products and prices).
1.2.2 Consumer catchment areas Failing to attract customers, retail strips have further reduced
their, already limited, consumer catchment areas, so that not even the neighborhoods for which they were built rely
on them anymore. Improving the attractiveness of the shopping experience by re-designing the built environment, allowing for expansions, landmarks and events, may allow the catchment areas to grow beyond the neighbourhood boundaries.
1.3. Preservation of character and roleThe downward spiral of these shops reflects (and it is reflected by) the downward spiral of certain aspect of neighborhood life, mainly in social and environmental terms. The detriment of these shops leads to the detriment of the surrounding physical and social environment, increasing segregation and crime phenomena, with the consequent loss of living quality and property values. Some of these buildings have also an historical value as they show a nuanced and complex picture of the development of the modern movement, the rise of the modern city and its influence on society. In some cases (see the cases of Dr. Struyckenplein in Breda and Houtweg in Emmen) the buildings have already been transformed or torn down, but while we may lose some of the architectural features of these modern-historical neighborhoods, we have to preserve the essence of the context and the role of the retail strips within it (Wagenaar, 2011).
2. PROGRAMIn order to rescue the retail strips and restore their leading role within the neighborhood life, we need to tackle their current weaknesses and follow specific principles of economy, feasibility and sustainability. If we succeed we may be able to instill new life and social relevance into these stores (Raatgever, 2014).
2.1 Dealing with the stores image, hence attractiveness and recognizability
The retail strips need to present not only an organised and attractive stores, but also a charming and recognizable urban context. Public spaces and areas facing and surrounding the retail strips need to be redesigned to receive and welcome customers: more greenery and amenities, partial sheltering from bad weather conditions, coziness. Often the retail strips do not offer the sense of coziness and security that historical city centers or shopping malls are able to provide: these elements are determined by building proximity (scale and relation between open and closed spaces), sheltering, people proximity, urban furniture, greenery, quality of natural and artificial lighting. To achieve the desired result, besides intervening on refurbishing the existing, in some cases it will be necessary to add new simple structures, such as canopies or enclosing elements which can be prefabricated and adaptable to the different location settings.
2.2 Maximizing the shopping surface, both internally and externally
On the one hand the stores need to use as much space available inside the buildings in which they are located, hence conceivably using also the second level (usually intended for residential purposes, but often vacant). On the other hand, the areas just outside the stores have to take part and
Re-StoreTHE UPLIFTING OF POST-WAR RETAIL STRIPS IN THE NETHERLANDS
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foster the shopping experience (reaffirming again the need for public space refurbishment). Increasing the shop surface would not only allow for the establishment of different kind of businesses, but it would increase also the storage facilities (allowing stores to have bigger stocks of products and produce), hence it would lower buying and selling prices (increasing competitiveness).
2.3 Organizing the stores within a retail strip to work complementarily
The single shops should not compete against each other, but should work together to offer customers the best and possibly the most complete shopping experience. Retail strips need to be organised in programs and have common design and communication features. A retail strip should have a theme which would form the character that distinguishes it from other retail strips as well as from historical centers and shopping malls.
2.4 Inserting new functions besides selling products or services
Often retail strips are in connection with residential areas that are essentially dormitories: a better mix of functions could provide more life to the neighborhood. New functions could include cultural and art spaces, social and communal locations, temporary event areas. These functions could be located in the vacant part of the buildings, which are often the apartments above the shops, and partially invade the shopping strips and the surrounding public space.
3. PROCESSAfter subdividing the given locations into 24 study cases, we studied the morphological features of each one to better understand their configurations. From the collected data and subsequent analysis, we were able to identify specific typological features and collect them into 4 groups by retail surface and 4 groups by morphological configuration (see table 1).
The grouping by retail surface gives information not only concerning the character of the stores, but also about their fragility: retail strips with less surface need help the most since are composed mainly by independent owners and local stores. This may give a guidance in term of urgency and scale of investment. The grouping by morphological configuration gives information concerning the environment which then leads to defining the spatial features of the proposal.
The analysis highlights the fact that we are tackling very different cases, from tiny retail strips composed of local stores, to complex and large retail venues with major retail chains and supermarkets. Although the retail strips might face the same ill fate, they belong to very different urban and historical contexts, therefore needing different and tailor-made solutions which must stem from common concepts and principles.
3.1 Data integrationTo make sense of all these collected data, we built a matrix to cross the 4 retail surface groups with the 4 morphological types to obtain 16 different settings (cells). We placed each study case on a corresponding cell and decided to analyze a plausible approach for 4 of these settings. We chose the 4 settings so as to include one time all 4 retail surface groups and all 4 morphological types (see table 2).
4. PROPOSALWe foresee and propose 4 ways of intervention (see table 3). These interventions can be seen as separate, individual actions or in combination with each other. They can be part of a chronological sequence where the subsequent ones substitute or complete the preceding, but they can also be seen as cyclical interventions. The advantage of progressing in steps would mean the possibility to test market and neighborhoods before adopting a definitive solution.
4.1 Urban refurbishmentUpgrade and refurbishment of the public space facing and surrounding the retail strips, through affordable and rapid interventions which use paving, vegetation, urban furniture, lighting, colours and graphics as their tools.
4.2 Follies - Space InvadersInsertion of temporary elements, structures and pavilions (space invaders or follies) into the shopping areas to raise interest, increase sociability, improve the shopping experience and test new products and stores (Jodidio, 2011).
4.3 CanopiesInsertion of light sheltering structures (canopies) to give the shopping areas not only protection from adverse climate conditions, but also character, continuity and unity.
4.4 LandmarksConstruction of permanent new structures (landmarks) which combine all the previous elements to present a new and improved topographic surrounding, a new and recognizable shopping experience.
4.5 FrameworkOver the past decades many faceless commercial areas and anonymous or troubled public spaces within European cities have faced foreclosure and abandonment. Often the solution to regenerate these areas and the commerce in them has been through urban design and public space refurbishment, inserting new structures which are usually remarkable for ingenuity and aesthetics. Sometimes these urban interventions have had a temporary and artistic approach, sometimes they have had a more significant and permanent architectural character.
There are many recent examples of how temporary or permanent canopies, for example, have radically improved commerce and social life in neighborhoods, whether as an artistic installation or a visually striking building. The “Umbrella Sky” installation by Sextafeira Produções at festival “Agitagueda” in the city of Agueda, Portugal (2012) or a similar installation along the Cheonggyecheon River or the Mecenatpolis Mall in Seoul, South Korea (2014) have temporarily turned shopping and pedestrian areas into engaging visual experiences (Lerner, 2014). The “Metropole Parasol” canopy in Seville, Spain (2011) by architect Jürgen Mayer-Hermann has reawakened an entire dying neighborhood, giving it a new identity. It has brought back businesses and shoppers creating a space that people adopt and adapt to their own requirements. These are only few examples (of many) on how visually striking structures (whether temporary or permanent) can foster economy and social relationships in perishing urban areas.
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5. PROSPECTIVEWe foresee our proposals as feasible and sustainable, each as an expression of our guiding principles. These concepts should be further studied and researched involving actors from the public, private and civil sectors. So for now we limit ourselves to suggest architectural elements and features of our ideas more than a precise and definitive design.
5.1 Urban refurbishmentMany retail strips face directly the road without much available public and pedestrian space around. In these cases, it would be difficult (if not impossible) to insert massive structures without radically modifying the modernist setting. Keeping in mind, the necessity of preserving and restoring the cultural identity of a place and a community, after years of neglect, refurbishing the public space and introducing more greenery becomes a respectful, affordable and swift way to proceed and tackle the problems at hand.
5.2 Follies - Space InvadersThe follies, ingenuous little pavilions, should be light enough for transportation and be simple to build and dismantle, using light materials such as wood, aluminum and carbon fibre for their main structures, and materials such as textiles, fibre-cement and plastic for their cladding. Stemming from similar principles and prefab components, they could be combined or declined in different ways to make each unique. Working as a network, we suggest designing 24 and have them travel each month to a different (chosen) location in groups of 12: two simultaneous retail strips would receive them and make this an event. The follies (transportable pop-up stores and cafés) would be useful to test the market with new concepts, events, social happenings, stores and products (see the recent examples of the Smith Pavilion by Studio Weave in 2014, the Endesa World Fab Condenser by Mergen-Lab in 2014 and the Popped Out Shop by Pencil Office in 2010).
5.3 CanopiesA canopy is able to define and give a character to a public space without needing to enclose it (see the recent examples of the Marseille Vieux Port Pavilion in 2014, the Ghent Market Hall in 2012 and the Sandnes Lantern Pavilion in 2010). It is an affordable and suggestive way to shelter and make unique the shopping experience. Canopies should be removable and
easily dismantable, but not temporary. They would use mainly wood and steel as their structural materials, textiles, glass and transparent recyclable polymers as their translucent cladding.
5.4 LandmarkThese permanent buildings should capture the attention of the customers for ingenuity and quality. They should crystallize and combine the concepts and ideas tested with the previous interventions, using some of the same elements in a permanent setting. Their ambition is to maximise and explore the retail surface while creating a suggestive and unique public environment. The type of buildings that are able to achieve these goals are usually evocative in the way they embrace space and topography, mixing private space and public surrounding, business and sociability, transforming buildings into landscape.
5.5 Actors and stakeholdersThe process that leads to rescuing the retails strips involves necessarily government, market-based actors and the civil society (including non-governmental organizations): they should work with a common vision, a network-based approach and clear goals. While the public and civic actors would essentially be the same on each case, the private actors, depending on the size and characteristics of each location, could shift from major project developers, retail chains and product brands (industry leaders), to single owners. The process should involve a collective learning process in which data are shared, cooperation is encouraged and solutions are tested (experimentation, learning and adaptation through design). The government together with the private sector should produce new data analysis, regulation and market incentives that may encourage businesses to flourish, while the civil society should provide feedback and ideas for innovation (Hofmann, 2015). Design should be both a tool for investigation and the embodiment of solutions that serves all actors.
ReferencesHofmann S., Architecture is Participation, Jovis, 2015, ISBN 978-3868593471Jodidio P., Temporary Architecture Now!, Taschen, 2011, ISBN 978-3836523288Lerner J., Urban Acupuncture, Island Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1610915830Raatgever A., Winkelgebied van de Toekomst, Platform 31, 2014Soeterboek R., Een tweede toekomst voor winkelstrips, HBD, 2005, ISBN 90-6946-587-6Wagenaar C., Town Planning in the Netherlands, 010, 2011, ISBN 978-90-6450-682-6
Umbrella Sky (2012)by Sextafeira Produções
Popped Out Shop (2010)by Pencil Office
Smith Pavilion (2014)by Studio Weave
Ghent Market Hall (2012)by Robbrecht & Daem Architecten
Endesa World Fab Condenser (2014)by Margen-Lab
Sandnes Lantern Pavilion (2010)by AWP
Metropole Parasol (2012)by Jürgen Mayer-Hermann
Marseille Vieux Port Pavilion (2014)by Foster & Partners
RE-STORE 4/5TABLE 1
Amsterdam
GroningenHengelo
Den Bosch Leidschendam-Voorburg
Maastr icht Nagele Utrecht
Den HaagApeldoorn
Breda
Emmen
3600
4
3-A 2-C8,5
38 1400
3
14,5
36
building length: variable
Retail Surface (m2)
12001201 - 24002401 - 4800> 4800
Legend:
Morphology Type
ABCD
Frequency
6765
Frequency
10473
Category & Frequency:
retail surface (m2)
facing building proximity
building storeys
parking building / large parking area
frontal public space (m)
category (see Category Matrix on the following page)
facing a square / large pedestrian public space
4-A
7500
5
13,5
45
3-A
4000
4
12,5
47
2-A
2200
3
15
45
680
2
1-A 1-C4,5
14480
3
15
180
3-B
4600
2
17,5
17,5
4-A
5600
4
17,5
34
3-C
4200
7
11,5
24 1280
4
2-A17,5
30
1390
3
2-A8,5
17
1-B
730
2
8
8
1-B
810
2
4
4
1-C
630
5
54
64
5100
3
4-B
3-C
20
10
1450
15
90
130
2-C
1300
3
5,5
77
3-D
3800
19
1,5
14 5600
13
4-D5,5
50
4-D
10800
13
10,5
40
1-C
1050
2
27,5
28
3-A
3800
3
15
160
2-A
1800
5
16
90
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IDEA 1: URBAN REFURBISHMENT
TABLE 2 CATEGORY MATRIX
TABLE 3
IDEA 2: FOLLIES - SPACE INVADERS
IDEA 4: LANDMARKIDEA 3: CANOPIED SHOPPING PASSAGE
Retail Surface (m2)
Morphology type ASimple elongated retail blocks fac-ing the road
Morphology type BSimple retail blocks enclosing a pedestrian area
Morphology type CSimple retail blocks facing a square or open public space
Morphology type DComplex retail blocks with massive shopping and parking facilities
