Nicosia Mall in Nicosia, Cyprus was designed to provide a unique experience of shopping, dining and leisure into one integrated unit. The main idea was to create a playful and contemporary environment, with a friendly and dynamic character, offering to the visitor a discreet sense of luxury.

Located in a 61.000 sqm plot in Lacatamia district, outside Nicosia’s urban fabric, with a strong nature presence, the issue of sensitivity towards the natural environment played a very important role to the designing procedure. Towards this direction, building’s volume was articulated as  a horizontal, linear and curved object, in a green and light blue exterior elevations color palette, creating a dominant but, at the same time, respectful building to the nature surroundings in which it was embedded.

With a total built area of 100.000sqm and more than 150 retail shops, bars and restaurants, 5 cinema halls, an open plaza of 8.000 sqm and 1700 parking lots, NICOSIA MALL is actually a full day destination for visitors of any age, interests and hobbies.

The building consists of two commercial levels – ground floor and 1st floor – with two extra supportive levels – basement and one mezzanine floor. Visitors enter the mall in both ground floor and 1st floor level, with a special exterior area treatment, through entrance canopies in flowing shapes, following the intension of keeping both levels equally important and commercially appealing. The basic layout in plan, develops a curved linear layout, engraving into two directions, in wavy and cuneiform geometries (”river”), offering a game of perspective and a progressive space discovery. This way, once you enter into mall area, it is never visible to its whole extend, giving the opportunity of surprise to the visitor, as one discovers it gradually along the way. Inside mall area, two water features – one vertical water “curtain” and one water jet – offer a conceptual connection between the two commercial levels and create a Zen environment, with their water sound and feel.

Foodcourt area consists of both interior and exterior area, with a veranda towards a great and unobstructed view.

At the top of the building, a curved metal roof top cover creates a cost saving solution to MEP installations protection issue, while solving the problem of their aesthetically accepted hiding from public. This roof top cover provides an extra protection from roof solar overheat, offering a positive bioclimatic impact to the whole building.

Solar light tubes were installed through all mall corridor length, offering a very effectively diffused light to both commercial levels, during day time and at the same time providing a cost saving solution in energy terms, since during the day, the artificial light demands are kept very low.

Main materials in interior public areas are glass, mirrors, dry construction elements, ceramic tiles and timber and main colors are earthy beige with islands of strong colors shaking up the general colored serenity.

Building elevations configuration is based on the idea of double shell. Green sandwich panel with white repetitive pattern is the actual exterior shell and blue-grey vertical louvers protruding in a distance from green panel, create a movement effect, with a game of light and shadow, while walking along the façade. This different color and material combination ends up in a constant change of building color from green to blue and vice versa.

In the surrounding area of ​​the building, in addition to the open parking spaces, an elevated Plaza is created on the ground floor level, attached to restaurant shops and bars and offers to them a landscaped lounge area. The Plaza is ideal for expanded outdoor events, with the provision of temporary light cover in certain parts of the area, for concerts, game activities and outdoor exhibitions.