With its own farm and rainwater storage, how good is the world's greenest shopping centre?
Of all the shopping centres in Melbourne, it's not the biggest, not the most luxurious, not the most branded, not the most affordable, but it's definitely the most special and different!
Melbourne, a reigning World Liveable Capital for seven consecutive years, is a place where people live their lives with ease. With graffiti walls and cafes everywhere, it has become a mecca for visitors to Melbourne, and in such a world-renowned metropolis, there is an old quarter that is being given a new lease of life.
The $115 million Burwood Brickworks shopping centre, developed by Frasers in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, has been hailed as the most sustainable shopping centre in the world, growing its own fruit and vegetables, recycling rainwater and waste water and generating enough electricity to sell back to the grid.
I have to say, this shopping centre, it's really worth a look!
Rooftop farming
In other shopping centres, the roof is either a car park or an open terrace. But at Burwood Brickworks, it is a rooftop farm covering an area of up to 2,000 square metres.
Renderings
It is also the first farm in Australia to be built on the roof of a shopping centre. The rooftop farm covers an area of 2,000m2 and is built using greenhouse technology to grow crops that can be eaten all year round. The farm currently has a variety of fruits such as strawberries, watermelons and blackberries; vegetables such as potatoes, aubergines, peppers and pumpkins; and flowers such as roses and sunflowers.
Next to the rooftop farm is a rooftop restaurant with a capacity of 180 people and a rooftop café with a capacity of 120 people, where all the vegetables and fruits needed for the restaurant and café can be sourced from the farm and picked on the spot. The existence of this rooftop farm also gives people the opportunity to get closer to nature "in the city but in the field".
A shopping centre that looks like a flower
Of course, it's not enough to have a rooftop farm when you're the world's greenest shopping centre. They also have a variety of eco-friendly high-tech additions.
For example, the shopping centre is built using environmentally friendly materials that do not emit toxic fumes, and it is beautifully designed. The escalators are so luxurious, sci-fi and advanced that you feel like you've stepped into a movie.
The north wall of the shopping centre and the car park are all planted with trees. Greenery has also been placed in the ground floor lobby to beautify the environment and purify the air. The shopping centre has been specially designed to use natural light where possible, to provide natural ventilation where possible and to reduce electricity consumption where possible.
When electricity is needed, it is all generated from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. All the organic waste in the shopping centre is composted and the fertiliser is used to grow vegetables and melons, achieving zero waste discharge.
All waste water generated in the shopping centre is recycled and then reused. The shopping centre has been built to Living Building Challenge standards and is expected to be certified under the Living Building Challenge.
To achieve Living Building Challenge certification, the BurwoodBrickworks shopping centre must produce more energy than it consumes each year. With the use of on-site rooftop solar PV and off-site renewable energy, utilising the latest battery storage methods, the energy generated will be 105% of the energy required by the building itself.
Shopping Paradise
If it's a shopping centre, then of course shopping is on everyone's mind. And in this respect, Burwood Brickworks does not disappoint.
A 4,200 sqm Woolworths, a 1,400 sqm Dan Murphy's, over 40 global brands and local retailers, a childcare centre, a medical centre, everything!
In addition, Little Mandarin Yoga & Pilates, Dogue Pet Store, Glossed Nails, Norwood Cafe, Insight Early Learning, and many more restaurants will be open to cater to everyone's food, drink, and shopping needs!
For those who like to watch movies, Reading Cinemas has opened its first Titan Luxe cinema in Victoria!
Located on the ground floor of the shopping centre, the cinema will have 6 rooms, all with reclining seats. The cinema will also be the most advanced in the Reading Cinemas chain, with the highest quality sound system - Dolby Atmos.
In carrying out these renovations, Burwood Brickworks has spent tens of millions of dollars, but the head of retail is confident that this will be offset by higher turnover and the rents that the shopping centre will attract, as longer shopping hours will be spent in its attractive surroundings.
In the future, this sustainable one-stop community shopping centre may become a model for all future retail developments.