In one the North East’s most popular shopping destinations, Architen Landrell has installed a series of large conical fabric canopies to maximise space, light and air circulation while maintaining an enclosed and exclusive feel to the mall.

The site of Dalton Park Shopping Mall, in the region of Durham, is in every way a visionary scheme. Contractors Ballast transformed a disused colliery sire into a striking landscape offering not only shopping and leisure pursuits but also wildlife and conservational areas.

The clients aimed to bring together the rural location with the commercial regeneration the area needed. However, a striking and unusual shopping environment was required to draw the shoppers into such a pastoral environment.

The tensile fabric canopies are the signature element of this striking site. Covering more than 3,000 m2 of arcades, the conical fabric structures act as giant translucent umbrellas that allow light and air in, keep the worst of the rain out and illuminate at night to great visual effect.

Completely tensioned from the perimeter, the fabric roof design allows column-free circulation space and avoids feelings of claustrophobia. Most importantly, the translucency and delicacy of the fabric structures retain the blur between the shopping centre inside and the wildlife environment outside.

The centre has a unique character, bringing together nature and modernity, enhanced and reflected by the organic shaped cones made of synthetic fabrics.