New Life for a Shopping Center
Räbgass Center
Sustainable refurbishment and development: The ATP subsidiary Mint Architecture has transformed a 40-year-old building into a pioneering mixed-use complex – and, in doing so, upgraded not just a building but an entire district.
What can we do with an old shopping center? Demolish it? Or retain it after all? And if so: in what form? At the Räbgass Center, a shopping center in Basel dating from the 1980s, the second alternative was chosen. Luckily: Because it underwent an impressive metamorphosis – while normal business continued – and was transformed into a high-quality mixed-use property.
Revitalization with added value
Mint Architecture was commissioned to refurbish the outdated, partly empty shopping center and to give it a new forward-looking function. Mint’s experts used their experience in the revitalization of commercial buildings and retail space to carry out a comprehensive analysis, on the basis of which they developed a concept that is economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable.
Sustainable refurbishment
As part of the total refurbishment project the building was upgraded to meet the very latest energy standards. The electricity generated by the solar park meets most of the center’s building services requirements, while the partial greening of the roof makes a significant contribution to biodiversity. The retention of the exposed aggregate concrete facade prevented the release of the gray energy contained within that concrete.
Mixed use: retail below, living above
The reorganization of the retail space created harmonious spatial relationships and generous sales areas with an elegantly timeless design. The repositioning of the entrance and escalator, the creation of additional shop windows, and the use of large areas of glass and new high-performance LED lighting ensure that the mall is now a bright and friendly meeting place.
The complete gutting of the roof level, which previously contained the ventilation plant and storage space, permitted the creation of six attractive loft apartments with patio and terrace. Inside and outside merge in these daylight-flooded living spaces. The interaction of concrete (the ceilings and the patio and terrace paving) and the warm material of the oak parquet lend the apartments a metropolitan flair, while the purist lines underline their loft-like character.
