Best of Retail

Bricks-and-mortar retailing now requires a lot more than just a wide range of goods. Taking a stroll, seeing and being seen, eating well, making interesting discoveries and enjoying an up-to-date spatial atmosphere are essential.

DMAA and Stefan Rutter have been working together for many years in a partnership based on a shared understanding of quality, design and functionality. The projects and studies that have resulted in recent times – the cooperation with the Rutter Immobilien Group in the retail sector began in 2012 – comprise not only new buildings but also refurbishments that address the issue of sustainable building. Projects designed to inject new life into timeworn shopping centres such as Taborland in Steyr or CYTA in Völs/Innsbruck presented particularly fascinating challenges.

DMAA react rapidly and precisely to individual requirements. Their designs constantly achieve an extremely high architectural quality that is particularly notable for its huge functionality and timeless elegance. Working harmoniously as a team, we have jointly realised numerous ecologically and socially sustainable projects. DMAA is one of the leading architectural offices in the field of retail and multifunctional buildings. (Stefan Rutter)

Our latest joint projects embody a shift away from individual use forms (shopping and dining) towards diversity and densification. Initial studies for projects in Steyr, Klagenfurt and Villach replace classic retail concepts with a combination of homes, jobs and shops.

Taking a stroll,
seeing and being seen,
eating well,
making interesting discoveries

Shopping center entrance under a long wooden slat canopy, glass storefronts, and shoppers inside; well-lit, modern retail plaza.

Wooden looping escalators form a circular atrium in a shopping mall, with shoppers riding and walking on each level.

People seated at a long table on a mezzanine in a bright, modern wood-and-concrete interior with skylights and an escalator.

Shoppers walk through a modern outdoor shopping plaza under a wooden-slat canopy; storefronts and red directional signs visible.

Shoppers walk through a modern shopping mall beside a glass-front store and an escalator.

Long hallway with numbered lockers along a white wall, geometric mural with birds; black leather sofa on the left.

TABORLAND storefront with large orange sign, covered entrance, pedestrians crossing at a zebra-crosswalk in a parking lot at dusk.

Outdoor shopping promenade under a wooden canopy with cafe seating; shoppers stroll beside glass storefronts.

Nighttime covered pedestrian promenade with a colorful mural on the right wall, wooden ceiling panels, benches, and pedestrians.

Shoppers walk along a modern shopping mall corridor lined with storefronts and a colorful mural on the right.

People stand along the glass-railed spiral staircase in a circular glass-domed atrium with a geometric skylight overhead

Two-level shopping mall interior with escalators, glass railings, and a wooden grid ceiling; shoppers walk past storefronts.

Empty covered walkway of a shopping plaza at dusk, white columns, wooden ceiling panels, and a parking lot in the background.

Eli Liezen

Number one in Upper Styria, the ELI has a catchment area of over 100,000 people that stretches far beyond the district boundaries. The centre is directly located on the B320 trunk road and right next to Liezen Railway Station.

The design idea behind the ELI Shopping Centre is to find an architectural concept capable of creating the diversity and dynamism of a marketplace that is home to both commerce and communication. The precisely conceived spatial geometry creates places that invite visitors to both take a stroll and rest awhile. At the same time, the appropriate organisation of the interior into a series of “streets and squares” communicates a highly sophisticated urban spirit.

Shoppers walk past storefronts in a modern indoor mall with a central escalator and hanging greenery.

Modern glass-fronted building exterior at dusk with a large black rectangular frame and an illuminated entrance reading HERZLICH WILLKOMMEN.

Interior of a modern two-level shopping mall with an escalator; upper-floor seating and storefronts, with pedestrians moving.

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ELI LIEZEN

Taborland Steyr

Taborland has been an institution in Steyr since the 1980s. The centre, which has been thoroughly refurbished by the Rutter Immobilien Group, embodies the long tradition of offering a wide range of everyday goods and a variety of restaurants.

A completely new, forward-looking concept was developed together with DMAA and the landscape designer Sabine Dessovic of DND Landschaftsplanung. The area between the shops is open and contains a high level of greenery. This generates a unique visitor experience.

Shoppers walk through an indoor shopping mall atrium with glass storefronts, wooden benches, and a cafe visible inside.

Bakery interior with shelves of loaves, glass display case of pastries, staff at the counter serving customers; prominent sign reads VINKLER.

Indoor shopping concourse with a large colorful mural on the right wall; pedestrians walk past benches and signposts.

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TABORLAND STEYR

CYTA Völs

The new head-end building of Cyta, which extends the previously single-sided mall towards the car park, is both exciting and dynamic. Cyta has been one of Tyrol’s largest and most successful retail centres for decades. Its ideal location on the A12 Inntal Motorway offers the ideal preconditions for further growth.

The three-storey shopping centre is being expanded into the most state-of-the-art centre in the West of Austria in a series of phases. The design reflects the cosiness and warm atmosphere of the historic department store. Cyta’s new image is shaped by large areas of wood and warm colours – which come together below Tyrol’s largest and most beautiful glass dome.

Three-story shopping mall atrium with curved wooden escalators circling a glass elevator shaft; shoppers ride escalators and browse storefronts.

People seated at a circular-bar café in a glass-roofed shopping mall atrium, chatting beneath pink umbrellas.

Teal sectional bench surrounds a planter with vines in a mall atrium; a person sits while shoppers pass by under hanging lamps.

Shoppers walk through a modern shopping mall atrium with glass storefronts and escalators; a red OSTERIA sign visible.

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CYTA VÖLS / INNSBRUCK

EO Park Oberwart

EO Oberwart is Austria’s most successful hybrid mall and the number one shopping destination in Southern Burgenland and Eastern Styria.
The EO PARK, which is located directly opposite the successful EO Shopping Centre, is a modern commercial park that is home to a broad retail, restaurant and service offering. The project was completed and opened in mid-May 2022.

Outdoor shopping center entrance with a covered walkway supported by white columns, empty promenade, and a parking lot at dusk.

Front view of a modern shopping center entrance with glass storefronts, wooden canopies, and a striped crosswalk in the foreground.

INTERSPAR supermarket exterior with glass facade and illuminated sign; parking lot in foreground with a car.

Visit the project page
EO PARK OBERWART

Projects designed
to inject new life into
timeworn shopping centres

Open architectural magazine showing a shopping mall interior with escalator, hanging plants, and storefronts, held by two hands on a white surface

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