CREATING VARIOUS LIVE/WORK TYPOLOGIES IN A MICRO NEW URBANIST COMMUNITY

THROUGH THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF DYSFUNCTIONAL RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

The proposal of this study is to adaptively reuse a dysfunctional retail environment into a micro

new urbanist living, working and entertainment space. The new development offers an

inclusive and ‘alternative’ urban lifestyle. The mixed-use development incorporates three

different living typologies, convenience-type retail outlets and flexible and collaborative office

solutions for residents.

The proposal comes as a result of the research conducted when analysing the current World

Wear Shopping Centre to fully understand the problem and suggests ways in which design can

solve these problems. The research conducted was done through the means of literature

reviews, personal observations, case studies and personal interviews which all provided vital

information to suggest diverse and symbiotic design solutions to the current problems.

Through the use of effective interior design, the design is aimed to create a successful micro

new urbanist environment where both the residents and visitors have a high sense of

community and have access to spaces and facilities to support micro-entrepreneurship.

The intended design proposal will convert the centre into a mixed-use development which will

incorporate three types of housing typologies, convenience retail outlets and flexible office

solutions for the residents. Research into new-urbanism will assist in suggesting a public live,

work and play space that should attract people to live and shop at the new development. All

these factors should ultimately help to increase foot count during the day and create an after-

work-life in the afternoon and evenings.