A shopping centre in the form of a green hill

The Zamkowe Tarasy Gallery is located in the heart of historical Lublin in Poland, beneath the ancient castle and at the edge of the old Royal Wetlands. The town has always been important commercially, and served as a crossroads between east and west for many centuries. The area has been transformed and developed over the years, with the construction of a civic sport and leisure centre, artificial lakes, walks and cycle tracks.
The Zamkowe Tarasy Gallery was designed by architects Stelmach i Partnerzy Biuro Architektoniczne in close collaboration with the civic authorities and the Department for the Conservation of Historical Buildings and Monuments. The structure incorporates three underground floors, with a further three levels of car parking beneath. The complex has a total floor space of around 68,000 square metres and houses 150 shops, a multiscreen cinema, a restaurant with a view over the old town, a bowling alley and a fitness centre and spa.
Designed with a clear focus on sustainability, energy efficiency and integration with the natural environment and the town’s cultural heritage, the structure serves primarily as a multifunctional shopping centre and civic meeting place. It is even built as a miniature town, with its own roads and squares on all floors.
Nestling on the banks of the Czechowka river, the mall has become an integral part of the local landscape, thanks to ivy-covered access ramps, green surfaces and walls of vegetation. The most important aspect of the structure is its roof. Constructed as a bridge and accessed by ramps, the roof is divided into terraces that criss-cross to form triangles, creating a landscape composition that blends in with the riverside ecosystem. The roof is covered with lawns, dwarf trees and large bushes, perennials and xerophytes to form a living environment of its own. The main entrance to the shopping centre is located at the north-west corner, while the west side provides access to the roof and to a terrace that offers a panoramic view of the castle and the old town. All the centre’s utilities and systems are housed in a technical area under the roof.
The centre is constructed mainly from reinforced concrete, steel, glass and oiled oak. Inside, the floor and wall coverings create a striking interior. The 30×60 cm porcelain tiles are from Casalgrande Padana’s Granitogres Series. Tiles from the Architecture collection in White, Black and Dark Grey, and from the Unicolore collection in Absolute White decorate the entire interior. Contrasting black and white bands correspond to the outdoor terraces and the earth-and-grass bio-stairways of the garden-roof, and replicate them in elegant, oblique lines.
The floor tiles on all levels form an easy-reference grid, with a striking composition that defines walkways, relaxation areas and points of sale.