IKEA plans to open a new kind of store in Vienna next year. In direct opposition to its typical suburban model surrounded by a sea of parking, they aim to build a store in an urban setting with zero parking, to be only served by public transit.
While I have to give them mad props for going against their own proven model, it will be interesting to see how the store fares in comparison to more traditional ones. It's easy to get excited about the novelty of such a project, but being a for-profit corporation, they also have a mandate to ensure they remain profitable, but if that proved to be a horrible failure, they probably have the financial mettle to weather that storm. Brandon Donnelly reminded us of that fact recently.
Ultimately, if it works, I hope to see it replicated elsewhere (Bloor St, anyone?) especially as it's designed with prefabricated elements, which has been an obsession of mine lately. If the renderings are any indication of the finished result, it also shatters the misconception that prefabricated buildings are necessarily boring and uncreative, yet open the door to a new kind of architecture that is built faster, more precise and more sustainable.
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