Once a vision of the future as a one-stop-shopping experience, the aging mall construct has continued to persist in towns across America. With many malls facing the harsh realities of online shopping, the once big-box magnet stores, that drew visitors in, no longer have the same appeal to the next generation. The Tucson Mall is one such example of underutilized land that provided seas of impermeable pavement to the holiday shopping masses in an era focused heavily on the automobile. With over 95% of the Tucson Mall’s existing northern section of the property consisting of hardscape that sees little to no use as overflow parking outside the holiday season, the site was chosen a potential project space to embrace the nearby Rillito and create a new development in Tucson.
Aimed at being the “final stop” on a proposed light rail line that would run from Downtown Tucson to the Tucson Mall, the current vast space of hardscape parking is envisioned to be turned into a space that will open ecologically to the Rillito River and invite an assortment of users in a mix use space. Intended to help the mall adapt with the changing usage, the Loop Trail that is bisected currently by the mall’s parking is integrated into the site among the mix use buildings that provide housing and commercial ventures for a wide variety of users.
With the theme originating from the “Beauty of Arizona” through inspiration from slot canyons, all areas of the design tie together through green parking infrastructure that utilize several biological water mitigation and harvesting techniques. Designed primarily with the SITES Program Guide to Sustainable Building in mind, the design showcases building techniques in new manners rarely explored in desert climates such as native green roofs that mitigate heat and restore missing ecosystem services.
