Unusual Roofs: Mall Edition 

"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish) 02/18/2018 at 19:53 • Filed to: Architecture

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Brentwood Town Centre is a mall near me in Burnaby. It’s always been the saddest mall when it comes to the selection of stores, but it does have the most interesting roof.

It’s currently undergoing some drastic changes. Part of the building was demolished, and the mall is being massively expanded and updated, and three apartment towers are being built, with plans for 9 or so more. But, the plans still show the current roof, so it’s unique enough that the developer wants to keep it.

CB > gmctavish needs more space 02/18/2018 at 20:09

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RIP Sears.

gmctavish needs more space > CB 02/18/2018 at 20:12

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I really feel for the ex-employees. They got so shafted.

ranwhenparked > gmctavish needs more space 02/18/2018 at 20:18

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It’s kind of like the Denver airport.

Also, kind of funny that it only took indoor shopping malls 70 years to evolve into what Victor Gruen intended them to be in the first place.

OPPOsaurus WRX > gmctavish needs more space 02/18/2018 at 21:11

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denver international:

i love the designs / construction

gmctavish needs more space > ranwhenparked 02/18/2018 at 21:24

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Oh it is, I’d never seen that before. Since the second storey and roof was added in the 80s, I wonder if they were also trying to tie it in with the Canada Pavillion built for Expo 86.

Also I’d never heard of Victor Gruen, but I think I’ll have to do some reading on him.

gmctavish needs more space > OPPOsaurus WRX 02/18/2018 at 21:25

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It gives it a very open and airy feel, it makes the whole mall feel way nicer than it has any right to.

ranwhenparked > gmctavish needs more space 02/18/2018 at 21:32

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Well, he’s credited with inventing the shopping mall (though the idea of indoor markets dates to Roman times), but his original vision was to create an indoor, weather protected version of European town squares, with housing, hotels, and offices all interconnected with the mall, so that the retail space would be like a social gathering spot and not just shopping. Suburban zoning regulations made it hard to fully implement.

punkgoose17 > gmctavish needs more space 02/18/2018 at 21:59

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That is a really cool roof. It sounds like a good mall to me. I am just there for walking around with my wife.

McMike > gmctavish needs more space 02/18/2018 at 22:01

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Wow, that mall is in tents.