On Thursday 26 April at the ICSC European Conference in Warsaw Multi Development Portugal’s shopping centre Forum Coimbra won this prestigious award in the category large centres, leaving behind centres in Belgium, Greece and the UK in this category. The Jury said that the centre was “best” in a number of ways and successful in its most important aspects: the site, planning, architecture, merchandising, sales results, customer approval and financial returns. The jury praised its architectural appearance, interior design and product offerings.
Shopping Centre Forum Viseu (19.500 mē), also developed by Multi Development Portugal, received a finalist diploma in the category small centres.
Forum Coimbra
Forum Coimbra (48.000 mē) is a suburban shopping centre, anchored by a Carrefour hypermarket. It sits on a hill on the left bank of the Mondego River, in the planned expansion area of the city. It is a 3-level enclosed scheme with 5 levels of underground and surface car parking. The project is perfectly integrated with the environment, achieving significant visibility to and from the city. The original site was problematic due to its slope, however this was converted into an advantage by allowing direct access from the different levels of car parks into almost all the areas of the scheme. The centre encompasses a wide retail selection and a strong presence of leisure facilities: a 6-screen cinema and 28 restaurants. Architects are T+T Design (master plan) and Broadway Malyan.
The award was presented exactly 1 year after the opening date of the project.
ICSC
Every year, the International Council of Shopping Centres Europe (ICSC Europe) presents awards to the best new and refurbished or extended retail developments in Europe. Acknowledged to be the most prestigious awards within the Industry, the 2007 Awards were presented at the European Conference in Warsaw, Poland. The Awards Jury consists of senior international figures within the shopping centre industry.
Awards Jury Chair, Stephen Pragnell, said: “This year we saw a record number of entrants, making the jury’s decision extremely hard. The finalists represent 20 dynamic, cutting edge shopping centres from 15 countries. The International Council of Shopping Centers’ prestigious 2007 European Awards are a cross section of the best and brightest of their kind. They share common traits: they blend with and complement their communities, culturally, socially and economically. They reflect history whilst setting their own new standards and bring new life to their cities”.
Forum Coimbra will be automatically submitted to the 2007 International Awards Program to be announced in
December 2007.