This green open concept makes The Breeze the safest mall in the new normal

Because of its architecture concept, its occupancy rate quickly returned to 80% when restrictions were eased.

When the Indonesia government imposed strict restrictions in the past two years, shopping malls were the first to suffer, with mall goers afraid to be inside enclosed spaces. Because of this, the average mall visit rate fell by 50% in 2020, and 60% in 2021. But for Sinar Mas Land’s The Breeze, recovering from this is a minor issue.With its Mall Without Walls concept, The Breeze's visitor occupancy rate quickly returned to 80% when the government began to ease the restrictions and let the shopping mall open.

"With the open space concept offered by The Breeze, visitor traffic returns much faster than indoor malls in general," said Yani C. Dewi as Mall Division Head of Sinar Mas Land in an exclusive interview with Real Estate Asia. “This is kind of a blessing in disguise because when the pandemic hits, people are looking for open spaces for activities.”

The Breeze is located in the BSD Green Office Park area, Tangerang Regency. The total area of ​​BSD Green Office Park is 25 hectares, of which 13.5 hectares is occupied by The Breeze.

The Breeze uses the concept of 'Mall without Walls' where visitors can eat food whilst enjoying direct views of trees, green plants, artificial lakes and the Cisadane river. "We could say The Breeze layout consists of 70% green open space, 20% retail F&B, and 10% entertainment including a bowling alley, cinemas and gyms," said Yani.

Sneak Peek into The Breeze

When visitors come, they can enter from anywhere because The Breeze has an open concept without any partitions and walls. Visitors can go directly to the tenant they are aiming for. Currently there are 90 tenants consisting of F&B, Entertainment & Lifestyle, Sports and Supermarket tenants. The tenants occupy stand-alone buildings with sizes varying from small island stands to large shops.

There is also Kumulo, a creative compound area in an open space consisting of 25 microsites with unique architectural designs in an area of ​​approximately 4,000 square meters that sells a variety of curated local products. On Sundays or holidays, Kumulo often holds Sunday Market events with the concept of a pop-up store.

Visitors can also sit in the atrium area of The Breeze. They do not have to worry about being exposed to heat or rain because there is a large canopy that protects visitors from the weather. Visitors who bring children can also let their children move freely, feed the fish in the pond inside the mall, and bring their pets.

The Breeze does not provide an elevator, nor does it have a multi-floor building like a mall in general, but a spacious room where visitors can move freely, enjoy the air freely and briefly enjoy outdoor shopping.

“The beginning of the concept that we created at The Breeze came from the management's desire to make something different. We see malls not only as a full concept for families but more for lifestyle and entertainment. When we began to build The Breeze, all the existing malls were using an indoor concept, but we wanted to make it an open space so that we took benchmarks from abroad such as The Groove shopping center in LA, and Clarke Quay in Singapore,” Yani explained.

The Breeze started operating in 2013 and was designed by JERDE, an architect from the US who has a portfolio of building open retail concepts. As Yani emphasized earlier, green space is an important element because most of The Breeze's space is green space with various trees and plants. Various plants at The Breeze receive periodic maintenance where trees that are not in good condition and cannot be saved through maintenance will be replaced by planting other trees that are mature.

Healthy and sustainable lifestyle

In addition to the unique concept, the services offered by The Breeze are also their strengths. The developer of The Breeze, Sinar Mas Land, implements a smart city in promoting a sustainable lifestyle in the mall area and its surroundings. Visitors who want to visit The Breeze can use an autonomous electric vehicle (AV) that started its trial earlier this year. The electric car has a capacity of 33 kWh, can last for 9 hours, and can accommodate up to 14 people. The AV is only operating within the BSD Green Office Park area, which is in the same area as The Breeze. 

The Breeze management also provides a charging point for mall visitors who drive using electric vehicles. The green mobility now can be enjoyed by a greater number of visitors with the BSD Link electric bus, a free shuttle service that connects The Breeze to other landmarks in BSD City.

On the technology side, mall management implements a manless parking system where visitors can buy their own parking tickets without a guard. Currently, the average traffic of visitors to The Breeze is 3,000-3,500 cars on weekdays, and 4,500 cars on weekends.

To promote a sustainable lifestyle, The Breeze's management also captures the growing trend of a healthy lifestyle. The location of The Breeze is integrated with BSD City’s greenbelt, a route  that connects several areas in BSD, and can be used as a jogging or cycling path.

Yani sees this as the strength of The Breeze. “Initially we saw the mall as a gathering place, meeting point. How about now? Since the pandemic, people have become accustomed to the concept of gathering in open spaces and starting a healthy lifestyle such as exercising, and making The Breeze their destination," she said.

 So from shopping, to enjoying the sights to exercising, The Breeze has it all