Old indoor Brentwood Mall to lose fabric tent roof in major renovation

Existing condition of the indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

A massive overhaul of the old indoor mall of The Amazing Brentwood (TAB), formerly known as Brentwood Town Centre, will result in the loss of its tented white fabric roof.

Shape Properties has submitted an application to the City of Burnaby to perform the complete overhaul of the original 1960s-built indoor mall. This will fully modernize the dated design, bringing it closer in line with the standards of the newly built attached Tables food court, and the new outdoor mall at the southwest corner of the property.

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In the process, in pursuit of a more energy-efficient building, the existing tented fabric roof installed in the late 1980s will be entirely replaced by a rigid, conventional roof with ample skylights. The tented fabric roof is similar to the canopies of the Canada Place pier and Denver International Airport.

In its previous discussions with Daily Hive Urbanized, representatives with Shape Properties stated they were still in the process of determining the future of the old indoor mall, with previous redevelopment renderings suggesting the tented fabric roof design would be retained or at least replaced. But that is no longer the case.

Existing tented fabric roof:

the amazing brentwood indoor mall renovation

Existing condition of the old indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (Google Earth)

Future new replacement roof:

Artistic rendering of the new roof for the existing indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

The interior commercial retail space will also be completely rebuilt with a new layout, creating between 50 and 60 new retail tenants. Currently, the indoor mall is almost entirely vacant, and its design does not allow it to be competitive to attract high-quality tenants. The largest remaining tenant in the old complex is London Drugs.

There will also be four new entrances into the indoor mall to improve its connectivity and accessibility for the eventual complete buildout of the TAB mixed-use redevelopment that not only renews and expands the retail space but adds high-density residential and office uses. The additional indoor mall entrances will also allow a statutory right-of-way indoor pathway through the mall — a diagonal northeast-southwest pedestrian route accessible 24/7, improving links to SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station. This will be particularly beneficial to the future residents of TAB’s tower developments to the east and north.

Existing layout of the indoor mall:

Existing layout of the old indoor mall’s Lower Level at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

Existing layout of the old indoor mall’s Upper Level at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

Future layout of the indoor mall:

Future post-renovation layout of the old indoor mall’s Lower Level at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

Future post-renovation layout of the old indoor mall’s Upper Level at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

Other upgrades include a new “signature plaza” at the new northwest indoor mall entrance, and new seating, sidewalks, and landscaping. Seismic upgrades will also be performed to the existing indoor mall structure.

The existing indoor mall’s total floor area will fall from 589,000 sq ft to 428,000 sq ft — largely from the demolition of the old Sears wing. After renovations, the entire TAB mall will have a total commercial floor area of 1.08 million sq ft.

Existing tented fabric roof:

Existing condition of the old indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (Google Earth)

Future new replacement roof:

Artistic rendering of the new roof for the existing indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

The number of vehicle parking stalls associated with the existing indoor mall will also fall from 1,144 stalls to 692 stalls. TAB’s overall vehicle parking capacity will correspondingly drop from 2,541 stalls today to 2,089 stalls after renovations, which still represents a surplus of over 500 stalls based on municipal regulations.

Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership designed the indoor mall’s 1980s retrofit and tented fabric roof, while IBI Group is responsible for the current modernization concept.

Existing tented fabric roof:

Existing condition of the old indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (Google Earth)

Future new replacement roof:

Artistic rendering of the new roof for the existing indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

Construction on the first phase of the TAB redevelopment at the southwest corner of the 28-acre site reached completion in 2021. It is anchored by Cineplex’s VIP Theatres and REC Room, Sporting Life, LL Bean, and a flagship H&M store with Metro Vancouver’s only H&M Home. Two residential towers within the first phase are amongst the tallest buildings in the region.

Phase Two within the northwest corner will entail three towers for additional residential and retail uses.

Phase Three on the southeast corner includes a completed tower with residential and retail uses and the footprint of four additional towers.

Phase Four comprises the indoor mall renovation, along with three towers along the northeastern edge of the building.

Existing west entrance into the indoor mall:

Existing condition of an indoor mall entrance at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

Future west entrance into the indoor mall:

Artistic rendering of an overhauled indoor mall entrance at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

At full buildout, TAB will have 12 towers, with thousands of residents and on-site jobs.

Accounting for the additional density permitted under the inclusionary rental housing policy, a total floor area of 10.4 million sq ft is permitted for TAB, including 4.09 million sq ft of residential space and 1.97 million sq ft of retail, restaurant, and office space.

So far, only 31% of TAB’s total floor area has been built or is underway. After the completion of Tower Five in Phase Two, the remaining density yet to be built at TAB will stand at 7.2 million sq ft, including 729,000 sq ft of commercial space and the remainder as a mix of condominiums, market rental housing, and below-market rental housing.

Existing tented fabric roof:

Existing condition of the old indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (Google Earth)

Future new replacement roof:

Artistic rendering of the new roof for the existing indoor mall at The Amazing Brentwood. (IBI Group/Shape Properties)

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