By Paul Napolitano

Sometime next fall, thousands of bicycles—this is China, after all—will descend upon Wuhan's newest attraction, a 1.3 million-sq.-ft. mixed-use center anchored by scores of major European retailers and large themed restaurants.

The $162 million project now under construction will be a tourist experience for the entire area, Ji Xiao-An, president of developer Beijing Hulian, said in a prepared statement. Wuhan, a city of eight million people, is located along the Yangtze River, about 700 mi. west of Shanghai. It's known as one of China’s “Cauldron Cities” because of its exceedingly hot summers.

Wuhan City Plaza will include a nine-story department store, six levels of retail shopping, nightclubs, movie theaters, several restaurants and four stories of office space. Three of the upper floors in the mall component will be themed environments.

Ji anticipates that his project, the largest of its kind in Wuhan, will be a popular spot for residents to get some relief from the heat. "People can spend the heat of the day in a pleasant environment," he said.

Ji said that Wuhan, an important industrial and trade hub for central China, can easily support a large-scale project like this.

The most fascinating design aspect of the project was incorporating Western retail and entertainment concepts in a themed environment, said John Deenihan, design principal/retail of the project’s architect, Los Angeles-based Rothenberg Sawasy Architects.

Some retailing differences in China include smaller shops and restaurants ranging up to 30,000 sq. ft. Another twist: the reality of bicycles being the primary transportation for the majority of city residents.

In this part of China, eight spaces for bicycles are allocated for every 1,000 sq. ft. of gross leasable space, Deenihan said. By comparison, only one space per 1,000 sq. ft. is designated for vehicles in China, Deenihan said. There will be two areas outside Wuhan Plaza that will be used for “bike parking.” Each will hold about 4,000 bikes.

With retail themes being relatively new to China, Deenihan said, “Our goal was to produce a casual streetscape environment with a European ambience while still respecting local cultural design principles such as feng shui.”

The sleek exterior glass and aluminum exterior, with accents of ceramic tile and granite, will be further distinguished by extensive advertising graphics and large-screen, electronic billboards on the façade, a common Chinese practice on commercial buildings.

“We are giving this element considerable attention to assure than it does not detract from design integrity,” Deenihan said.

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