An Elevated Shopping Experience
LAPO -“Los Angeles Premium Outlets – is a large shopping center located in Carson, CA. The site, a former landfill, presented a challenge to the city and sat empty for many years. The solution elevates retail to a floating podium that sits atop ground-level parking. The design choice to raise the storefronts serves both aesthetic and pragmatic concerns. Situating parking directly below the floating retail podium minimizes the need for large, desolate swathes of vehicles around the shopping complex. At the same time, it is a cost effective solution for creating a physical buffer between the landfill and the end user.
The shopping mall forms a long rectangle, partitioned by “canyons” running its length. These valleys heighten the shopping the experience by providing a landscaped respite from the multitude of retail outlets, as well as offering service-oriented activities. The design team at AA implemented a graduated color scheme to serve as a wayfinding system and to signal vertical transportation to the parking below.
