Manulife (King Centre) redevelopment project

[danbrotherston]

*A* mall might do well...*that* mall never will. The people who designed that mall had no understanding of how streets worked. The mall is disconnected and separate from the street, there is no engagement...there are "mall people" who probably arrive by car, and never interact with the street, and there are "outside people" who get nothing from the mall but a mostly blank wall on most sides.

In the Netherlands, the only mall we went to, we didn't even realize was a mall until we were inside it...that's how integrated it was into the street.

That’s an idea situation. So, with that in mind, it COULD be possible to make that mall the way you just explained, but would require a lot of work — and likely only 1 floor (ground). It this feasible anywhere in DTK or any of the cores?

I'm not certain these things are possible with a retrofit...often times the "ground floor" differs significantly from the level of the street. The mall in question seems to be level on King, but not on Charles, so King could be improved. But it would require significant reconfiguration inside to meet the needs of stores being active on the street AND in the mall, and also being able to receive deliveries.

I'm no expert on mall design, I just know it can be done well.

Edit: ijmorlan gives a good suggestion...