Iscon identity by JHP Design in full bloom

JHP Design has unveiled a comprehensive design scheme for Iscon Mega Mall, a 46 000 square metres shopping mall set to open in Ahmedabad in India late next year.

The London retail design specialist has produced the architectural plan, interior and exterior designs and a retail masterplan for the shopping centre, as well as its visual identity.

‘The identity and architecture are quite modern. This is what they wanted, rather than a Taj Mahal style,’ says JHP Design managing director Steve Collis. ‘The logo can be interpreted in different ways/ it could be a tulip, an upturned pair of hands or a symbol of yogic prayer.’

The design blueprint also references the colours used as dyes in the local bandhani fabrics, which are similar to saris. These colours will be applied to glazed tiles on the exterior of the mall building.

JHP was approached directly by developer Iscon to work on the project, following the consultancy’s work with luxury department store Shoppers Stop (DW 29 January 2004) and hypermarket brand HyperCity, whose developments will flank the Iscon Mega Mall building in Ahmedabad.

According to Collis, there is a dynamic retail market in India at present, as domestic companies embark on ambitious expansion plans, before current laws restricting the presence of foreign retailers are relaxed. ‘The restrictions are likely to be relaxed soon, so the retailers are really trying to establish their brands before the [likes of] Tesco and Wal-Mart move in,’ he says.