Mall of Africa in Midrand, Gauteng, has been named the winner of the sought-after Spectrum Award for the best retail development, becoming an icon of the real estate development landscape at the South African Council of Shopping Centre’s (SACSC) annual Retail Design and Development Awards (RDDA).

The results were announced on the first day of the 20th Annual SACSC Congress, which is underway in Sandton Central for the rest of this week. Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (NCIB) is the main sponsor of this event.

The awards include new shopping centres and the redevelopment and refurbishment of existing centres, as well as the design of retail stores and restaurants, considering the entire development package, including excellent design resolution, achieving a clear overall development objective, responding positively to the market and surroundings, adopting innovative design and construction solutions, and embracing environmental techniques.

Mall of Africa won the category for new regional and super-regional shopping centres above 20 000m² in size, to qualify to take top honours overall. Mall of Africa is 130 000 m² and was developed by Atterbury Properties and designed by MDS Architecture.

Finalists in this category also included Baywest Mall in Port Elizabeth and Watercrest Mall in KwaZulu-Natal. A commendation was also given to Mall of the South in Johannesburg.

In the category for new neighbourhood and convenience shopping centres smaller than 20 000 m² in size, Dainfern Square scooped the top award. Located in Gauteng, Dainfern Square is developed by Abacus Asset Management with dhk Architects.

Finalists in this category include Mascam Mall in Vredendal, Western Cape and Blue Hills Shopping Centre in Midrand.

The winner chosen in the hotly contested category for the renovation or expansion of an existing shopping centre was Riverside Shopping Centre in Bryanston.

Achimota Retail Centre in Accra, Ghana, took the trophy for top shopping centre developed outside South Africa by our local experts.

Checkers Hyper in Mall of Africa  won the category for the best shopping centre store larger than 1 000m². Also at Mall of Africa, Woolworths received a commendation in this category for its design.

This Way Out – Cape Town  won the category for the best shopping centre store smaller than 1 000 m². Tread+Miller at Canal Walk Shopping Centre received a commendation in this category.

Tasha’s in Nelson Mandela Square topped the category for best restaurant design. Finalists in the category also included Nando’s at Richards Bay Town Square and Casa Bella at Grand West Casino. Two Mall of Africa eateries were finalists in this category, Lucky Bread Company and Zuri.