Design Development is not often performed at a leisurely pace, as it should be.  Sometimes, as in 2004, there just isn't any time..

Thankfully, working with a talented group of individuals made all the difference in the world.  A very nice design had been completed manually for the 'Anchor Tenant' and was ready to go - and while the cadd department prepared plans and renderings - the Project Architect continued with the designs for the peripheral buildings.

The diagonal parking layout was accepted by both the Client and the Architect as it was, but was eventually to receive the full landscape design treatment, with 'plenty of trees'. Even though obscuring building signs is still a concern in this age of 'green'.

Finding a good balance of shop facades for the remaining sections of the central building needed to be done as quickly as possible.

Interestingly, it was the corner 'drive-through' peripheral building that turned out to be the biggest challenge for the Developers.

There is this common misconception: that designing large parking areas is easy to do.  I fact, doing it right takes some serious experience, and the final design can sometimes be crucial to the success of a project.  In some cases, existing conditions dictate much of the outcome - so you just work with what you've got.

Other times, it just becomes 'a question of timing'. In particular, coordination with possible Future Tenants can sometimes feel like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. (Or diagonal parking grid.)  In any case, these things eventually all get resolved.

From our point of view, 'design development' is the one chance we have to explore options and should be rushed only when necessary.