2021.10.16

The "GBE Commercial Complex Awards 2021" were announced in Shanghai on October 15, 2021. Times Fun-in (Zhongshan), a community-oriented commercial project representative of the Times Industry and Commercial Group, won the "Best Renovated Commercial Building Award", for which it garnered considerable industry attention. Based on the theme "Fabulous Moments at Your Doorstep", the project was a thorough renovation of the extant shopping mall, thereby contributing another wonderful example of what the commercial real estate industry can accomplish. Times Fun-in (Zhongshan), which opened in August 2021, attracted nearly 500,000 visitors within the first two days and achieved turnover in excess of RMB 1,300 per square meter during the first month.

▲ Ms. Gao Mali, project manager for Times Fun-in (Zhongshan), accepted the award on behalf of the project.

The GBE Commercial Complex Awards is presented by the Global Business Engine (GBE) Architecture Forum, one of the most leading building information service providers in China. Each year, the forum will assemble a professional judge panel from industrial parks, architectural design, corporate administration and other fields to select outstanding projects with representative significance in the industry, with a view to exploring the future development directions of commercial complexes and discovering the new value of commercial real estate for cities, life and social interactions.

▲ Times Fun-in (Zhongshan) won the 2021 Best Renovated Commercial Building Award.

Times Fun-in (Zhongshan) stood above a crowded field of competing works, highlighting the industry's recognition of Times Industry and Commercial Group's ability to renovate, improve and re-envision properties.

Immersive Consumption Energizes Urban Commerce

Formerly a shopping mall anchored by a Jusco store, Times Fun-in (Zhongshan) now boasts a gross floor area of 56,000 square meters. Seizing upon the trend of community-oriented commerce, Times Industry and Commercial Group employed world-class design resources as the means to drive every aspect of the project, from product positioning to layout and spatial representation. The company invited the world-renowned team of AGC Design (Hong Kong) as the designer, Jiang & Associates (Hong Kong) as the mechanical and electrical consultant, and Zhongshan Design Institute to produce detailed construction drawings. The project involved a full renovation of the building's façade as well as the inclusion of landscape gardens and indoor flow lines, using a vertical mechanism and interactive art installations along with washes of light to express the modern urban lifestyle. Thus, the new image made the building visually impressive to consumers, who can admire it as a commercial landmark in Zhongshan.

▲ The project before renovation

▲ The project after renovation

The Interactive Façade

Used to be like a square box, now the shopping mall looks like a huge, open gift box with its façade designed with glass curtain walls and punched light-transmitting aluminum plates, providing consumers with continuously-changing surprises.

▲ Times Fun-in (Zhongshan)

Interior Renovation Based on the "Flower" Theme

Zhongshan is also known as Xiangshan, meaning "fragrant hill", having been named after "its plentiful, fair flowers". Thus, the city's cultural symbol is a flower. The renovation integrated the elements of flowers in different spaces and combined the interior architecture with the shape of petals, conveying a hill covered in fragrant flowers embellished with blooming floral columns. The design provides transparency, accessibility and a comfortable spatial experience to satisfy the demand for an immersive spatial experience.

▲ The first decoration and display exhibition of the "Fun and Fantastic Garden Theater" in Zhongshan

Atrium Space and Adjusted Circulation

The existing structure was augmented with atriums of different sizes, which make the interior seem spacious and transparent while elevating the visual accessibility of each floor. Constant circulation was added to significantly limit the appearance of corridor ends, thus ensuring a seamless experience for visitors.

▲ Atrium space and blooming floral columns

Open Middle-island Shops

To create an environment with community characteristics, shops on the atrium and those at the featured blocks along its sides were designed with the use of an open-air format. The flexibility of these open shops and their plentiful products make the venue feel like a market, increasing its vibrancy. As a result, they enhance the user's experience and encourage consumption.

▲ Open middle-island shops

Commercial Benchmark in West Zhongshan, Premium Community Life Center

Times Fun-in (Zhongshan) is located in a large residential group in western Zhongshan, which has a population of 800,000 within a three-kilometer radius. Positioned as a "premium community life center", the project promotes the philosophy of "happy gathering and enjoying" and consistently answers the needs of consumers and families.

The project encompasses a range of community life scenes that satisfy consumers of all ages, such as the food outdoor block "Spoon Lane", the Children's Happy World "Painting Paradise", and the "Hot Oxygen Gym" with a nine-meter, three-dimensional space for sports.

Meanwhile, using the "24-hour fun time" to match the time trajectory of consumers in all age groups, the project has consumption scenarios for different durations, creating an all-season fun site that encourages lasting brand loyalty and high visitor return rates. From morning exercise and breakfast in the "morning economy" to midnight cafeterias in the "night economy", and from childcare and body-building in the "midweek economy" to entertainment and shopping in the "weekend economy", visitors to Times Fun-in (Zhongshan) have access to beauty care, shopping and check-in as well as socialization and dining and one-stop babysitting. The development offers "fabulous moments at the doorstep" around the clock.

Times Industry and Commercial Group: A Creator of Beautiful Urban Spaces

Times Industry and Commercial Group, established in 2002 as a subsidiary of Times China Holdings, undertakes the strategic business segment of Times China's industrial and commercial investment operations.

As a creator of beautiful urban spaces, Times Industry and Commercial Group follows a development strategy that integrates culture, commerce, production and office operations through cultural leadership, commercial empowerment, technology-based production and smart office technology. With industry and commerce as twin drivers, the company provides whole-value-chain operations of urban spaces, including industry and city planning, spatial positioning, product management, investment-attraction operations and industry development. Its products and services cover multiple formats, including office, commerce and industry.

Based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Times Industry and Commercial Group has expanded into areas with high growth potential such as the Yangtze River Delta, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration. With a total development and management area greater than 4.5 million square meters, the Group is committed to being an outstanding urban space operator in China; a company that achieves a multi-win, integrated urban development ecosystem that empowers urban growth and creates a more fascinating urban life.