The way a big box store looks is important to its owners, its customers, and everyone who sees it. Sometimes a community can influence the design of a new building, but design changes may add to the building's cost.
Form Big box stores are not always big rectangular boxes located along a highway corridor or interchange. They can sometimes fit within urban centers, have multiple stories, and have a more articulated form that fits into their surroundings, or what planners call "context." Click a thumbnail to see a larger image of each example.
"Adaptive Re-use" Not all big box stores are new construction. Here are three examples of large stores that have adapted their retail format to historic buildings. Click on a thumbnail for a larger image.
What assumption do you want to make concerning Any-Mart's form?
Scale Big box stores are often larger, with more expansive parking areas, than the buildings that surround them. Some, however, have a smaller structure and more compact, multi-level parking structures which match their surroundings. Click on a thumbnail for a larger image of each example.
What assumption do you want to make concerning Any-Mart's scale?
Site Plan Any-Mart's proposed site plan consists of a one-story structure fronted by a surface parking lot that is roughly the size of the building. The vehicle circulation pattern of the driveways and service areas is independent of the surrounding road network.
Less typical of big box site plans is one in which the "box" sits within a complex of other buildings. This circulation pattern meshes with the urban street network and pedestrians can access the store directly. Click on a thumbnail for a larger image.
What assumption do you want to make concerning Any-Mart's site plan and location?
