Pantops Shopping Center is one of the largest properties along the growing Pantops Mtn shopping corridor, a growing competitor to Rte 29. Highway shopping centers like this one are a ubiquitous typology that define much of America’s built landscape. Pantops Shopping Center is a sprawling, spatially underutilized shopping center, with
most of the site being dedicated to a central parking lot that creates a massive void between the two main rows of shops. The development is also set back from the highway behind other businesses which adds to the isolation factor. Our team has chosen to address this site in an effort to come up with a design solution that can be applied across the country to similar developments. We believe that solar infrastructure can also create spaces that humanize the American strip mall. We believe that solar infrastructure could be holistically implemented into this development typology as a means for creating “third” spaces that support community activities and pedestrian life, rather than the current pattern of “drive-shop-leave” usage. This network of third spaces will give each business a space to host auxiliary activities, will serve as a public park walk, while retaining its initial use as overflow parking. The resulting band is a perimeter solar park that creates a connected public space along every store frontage. This walk offsets the perimeter road to the inside and creates an outdoor space that can be used by both businesses and the public. It will activate and connect store frontages and convert excess parking SF to meaningful flex spaces.