Homebush DFO spruced up by Buchan Group

SYDNEY shoppers are testing out the $100 million-plus upgrade of Homebush’s Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) and the new Homemaker component, orchestrated by the Buchan Group.

The centre’s face-lift features a new interconnected layout with a new large format retail level and food court precinct, spanning a total site area of 17,400sqm. The upgrade has been planned to fit the needs of the outlet’s tenancy mix and to create a customer-orientated shopping and leisure destination, Buchan Group  principal Nathan Hones said.

The Buchan Group was appointed by CFS Retail Property Trust Group (CFX) in September 2012 to revise the centre’s original design, providing architecture and interior design, branding, environmental graphic design and signage services to the project.

The new centre layout allows customers to be directed through retail and breakout zones while providing stimulating outdoor views of parks, sky and natural light, enhancing the overall customer shopping experience.

Mr Hones said the centre’s design concepts were explored through the use of materials and an architectural language that reinforced the centre’s modern factory outlet concept and identity. 

“A significant design inclusion to rejuvenate the DFO brand and its luxury retailers includes the use of contemporary yet industrial colours in the specialty retail and new homemaker component, which complements the existing DFO level and offering to customers,” Mr Hones said.

“Polished silver shopfronts for the Premium Mall area take the retail character to a whole new level. Standout features include the mall’s central skylight and the vertical glass box at the northern end of the complex, which floods the food precincts with natural light, drawing parallels with the customer’s connection to the natural surroundings to establish a relaxed eating experience.

“The building’s design is also bolstered through sustainable features which use less energy than traditional retail malls via the centre’s open warehouse space, limited ceiling features and shared mechanical systems.”

Innovative carbon dioxide sensors have also been installed in the outlet’s car park to monitor the building’s air quality output.

“Customer parking was another key consideration,” Mr Hone said. “Reconfiguration and expansion of the of the existing multi deck car park will help improve the centre’s traffic movement, and the provision of the new 800-plus car park directly underneath the retail offer is very convenient for shoppers.”

Located 15km from the Sydney CBD, the complex has about 1,490 car spaces on site, two food courts, and includes five vertically integrated levels of shopping and parking.

The Buchan Group is one of Australasia’s most versatile architectural, interior and graphic design firms, servicing clients from diverse sectors in Australia, New Zealand, China, South East Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom for more than 120 years.

The Buchan Group traces its history back to 1890, with the opening of the first practice in Geelong, Victoria. The Brisbane practice was established in 1983, before expanding to the Gold Coast, Sydney, Auckland and Christchurch.

www.buchan.com.au

 

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POSTED JUNE 30, 2014