In the world of shopping centre and retail design, it’s not only about all things attractive, all things inviting and the plethora of shopping centres and retailers to choose from, it is about finding the fine lines between architecture, interior design, graphic design, marketing, advertising, ergonomics and bringing them together to create seamless harmony.

The RDDA winners are awarded annually to entrants that display this seamless harmony of design excellence, innovation and environmental consciousness. This includes instore design, centre redevelopments, expansions of existing shopping centres and development of new centres. Sponsored by Nedbank CIB Property Finance, the 2018 RDDA entrants in the various categories created a huge challenge for the judging panel in this year’s intake as they were all exceptionally designed and presented. 

Chief Executive Officer for the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) Amanda Stops said that Shopping Centres and Retailers have become more dynamic over recent years. “Judging the awards have become progressively more difficult as we see even more innovation over the years and this year was no exception. Our country remains world class in terms of the types of centres and stores that have been designed and produced. I would like to congratulate all the entrants in this year’s RDDAs,” she said.

Andrew Ogg, SACSC RDDA Chairman said that he was impressed by the entries this year. “On behalf of the jury I would like to congratulate this year’s winners and we were all again impressed at the breadth and quality of the entries. The jury were delighted to note that all this year’s winners were in small and medium sized locations underlining that exemplary design is not exclusive to larger regional locations with higher budgets,” he said.

Among the category winners, Whale Coast Mall stood out from the rest of the winners and was named the winner of the coveted Spectrum Award. The Spectrum Award celebrates retail excellence across all disciplines and sectors. It is a platform for recognizing innovation, outstanding economic and creative achievements. This award is selected from all the Retail Design and Development Award winners.