Recently, there is a new trend in Europe: shopping centers are returning to city centers. In addition, you can see that the cells for individual stores have become larger, and the atmosphere in the malls has become more "spectacular". This line is fully embodied by the new shopping center that opened in Stockholm in November 2015 - the Mall of Scandinavia designed by Wingårdhs, the largest in this region of Europe. In 2012, the architects of the Gert Wingord bureau have already completed one large shopping center - Emporia in Malmö in the south of Sweden.
The Mall of Scandinavia is part of a complex that also includes apartments, offices and parking. It is located in the Solna area, next to the train station and the large arena. It takes only seven minutes to get to Solna station from the main railway station, and then it will take a few more minutes to cross the pedestrian bridge and find yourself in an elegant wonderland of culinary, cinema and shopping - or a giant temple of consumerism. In the case of this mall, the intention was to make stylish leisure available to everyone.
The mall's interiors are impressive: lavishly designed spaces, high-quality designer furniture, thoughtful looks - neither too “average” or kitschy, nor too avant-garde. The correct epithet here is stylish. The atmosphere there - with a certain shade of luxury, but this luxury is not frightening and not "cheap" at all. It seems that the owners / investors / architects knew exactly what they wanted and acted for sure: everything was done at the highest level and as if telling the visitor: Mall of Scandinavia is serious and for a long time.
In the part of the complex where clothes and design items are sold, shop windows reach 8 meters in height, and all the details are thought out and made very high quality. But even the spaces of secondary importance, such as parking and bathrooms, are designed very carefully. The corridors leading to the toilets have oak-paneled walls, vertical landscaping, brass drinking fountains, natural stone floors, graceful sinks, fittings and lettering designs. Even the modern cleaning trolleys have been designed specifically for the mall.
To make it easier to navigate in the shopping center, different recreation areas have been made there. Some are surrounded by lush greenery, while others have tempting sofas and armchairs and lamps. The color changes in waves, from warm to cold. Near these "clusters" there are special posts for recharging smartphones or laptops.
Even if in the Mall of Scandinavia we find all the same international brands as everywhere - including the cheapest - the mall itself does not seem cheap due to the high quality Scandinavian architecture.
Residents of apartments located in the complex or employees of the office part can stay inside the complex all day long, which is especially important in the cold season. This mall is of a high standard, and shoppers can also spend the whole day there, ending with a dinner or a movie show there. But, given that the beautiful center of Stockholm is located nearby with its real streets and parks, two hours in the Mall of Scandinavia were enough for me.
The investor was Unibail-Rodamco. The commercial space is about 100,000 m2. The parking lot is designed for about 4,000 cars, however, as mentioned above, the mall is easily accessible by public transport.
