Merit Award
Concord Mills
Location
Concord, North Carolina
Client
The Mills Corporation
Design Firm
Kiku Obata & Company
Design Team
Kiku Obata (Principal in Charge), Jennifer Baldwin, Kevin Flynn, Denise Fuehne, Nikki Hite, Dennis Hyland, Carole Jerome, Teresa Norton-Young, Gen Obata, Jeff Rifkin, Kathleen Robert, John Scheffel
Fabricator
Mystic Scenic Studios, Inc., Modewords, Lexington Scenery & Props, Lockwood Sign Group, Three Point Design, David Allen Company, Jon Richards Company, Benchmark Design Group, M&S Graphics
Consultants
D'Agostino Izzo Quirk Architects (DAIQ), MESA Design Group, JK Design Group, Exposure Illumination Architects, Inc., McNamara-Salvia, Inc., National Survey & Engineering, TMP Consulting Engineers, Schirmer Engineering Corporation
Photographer
Jon Miller
Concord Mills is a 1.4-million-square-foot retail and entertainment center by the Mills Corporation. The design concept is based on regional imagery, celebrating North Carolina's crafts, festivals, nature, music, sports and traditions. One major design challenge was keeping the overall design concept in place while the building was constantly evolving as new tenants were added. In addition, maintaining design integrity through fabrication and installation was a challenge given the short timeframe and the multitude of construction people working simultaneously on the project. Both of these challenges required frequent visits to the site for coordination, trouble shooting and art-direction. Concord Mills is successful because of the strong design concept that created a genuine, memorable retail experience in which people feel connected and entertained.
Jury Comment
The jury admired the creativity behind this effort to visually enrich the ubiquitous American shopping mall. The jury particularly found the scale of the icons used to establish neighborhoods within the retail mall successful. For each zone within the center the designs were original and highly memorable. This is a beautifully detailed and crafted effort that worked equally well in daylight and under the artificial lighting in the evening. It is a very handsome answer to a most difficult problem.