Broadway Malyan, in collaboration with local architectural firm Six Architects, was commissioned to develop the interior and exterior designs for the shopping centre and food court within the 45,000 sqm Paseo La Galería retail development.
President Horacio Cartes was joined by other dignitaries to open Paseo La Galería, which is the core of a major mixed-use scheme of 250,000sqm that also includes two 25-storey workplace towers still under construction.
The project is the brainchild of Guatemalan telecoms billionaire Mario Lopez Estrada. His total investment in the project is $220m.
Paseo La Galería includes 140 stores, a 10-screen cinema, a major food and drink court, a supermarket and 3,400 above-ground parking spaces making it the largest development of its kind in Asuncion. The centre is expected to attract up to 600,000 visitors a month.
Broadway Malyan director Antonio Prado, who led the project from the practice’s Santiago studio, said the project reflected a growing confidence in Paraguay from international investors and set a new benchmark for mixed-use in the region.
He said: “This is our first completed project in Paraguay and one of a number of major retail-led schemes we are currently involved in across South America. With its stable government and growing economy, Paraguay is an increasingly attractive investment proposition.
“The retail sector in Paraguay is yet to fully mature and this project has allowed us to push the boundaries of shopping centre design in the region by creating a lifestyle led scheme that is a destination where people go to spend their leisure time rather than just to shop. The fact that the retail element is fully let with many brands opening their first stores in Paraguay reflects a real confidence in the sector.
“Asuncion is a vibrant and colourful city with a sub-tropical climate and this has informed our design approach with large outdoor terraces and lots of vegetation where we have sought to bring the forest into the project and create a development that complements initiatives along the nearby Paraguay river that includes the conservation of existing trees and the creation of a new river walk.”
