Klépierre : In the Heart of Marseille, the New Centre Bourse Opens out on the City

Regulatory News :

Klépierre (Paris:LI) :

As part of a broader project to renovate and make its downtown pedestrian only, the modernization of the Centre Bourse shopping center will mean an extension of 5 500 sq.m. GLA*, totally new façades and a restructuring of its retail mix in 2013.
A major shopping center owner and manager in continental Europe, the Klépierre Ségécé group, which was the original developer of the site, has been working with its partner AXA and in agreement with Galeries Lafayette on a project to renovate and restructure broadly the Centre Bourse of Marseille.

A new architectural identity

In tandem with its business and local government partners, Klépierre Ségécé entrusted the metamorphosis of the shopping center to the Moatti & Rivière and Georges Raskin architectural firms. The new Centre Bourse will reflect the ambitions of the city, in a bid to enhance the appeal of Marseille Provence for both business and tourists. It has been named Europe’s Cultural Capital for 2013.

When it first opened in 1977, the Centre Bourse was the first downtown shopping center. Located in the heart of the city, it is just 200 meters from Marseille’s historic port district (Vieux Port). The building’s interior has been renovated and restructured over the years, but the outside has changed little since it was first designed. The new face of the Centre Bourse features façades made of glass that truly open out onto the city and that invite the natural light in. These new façades will be fitted out with rigid structures that form waves around the building, giving the edifice a dynamic and almost airborne look and feel that echo the movement of the sea and the wind in the sails of a boat. The change in the sun’s rays throughout the day on these structures will modify the lighting inside the center as the day progresses. At night, the shopping center will be lit up with special, dedicated lighting.
The center will be extended beyond the existing façades that look out over Bir-Hakeim and Reine Elizabeth streets. The entrances will be dressed up and enhanced to provide better visibility and integration with the urban setting:

• The Bir-Hakeim façade will be realigned with La Cannebière perspectives.
• The main entrance to department store Galeries Lafayette, located at the intersection of Bir-Hakeim and Reine Elizabeth, will be visible from the Vieux Port.
• An extension from Saint Ferréol Street (a passage over Bir-Hakeim that is closed and covered) will be integrated into the architecture of this new façade, completing this restructuring.

An additional 5 500 sq.m. GLA for a new retail ambition

To offer visitors a new retail selection that is both complementary and innovative, the Centre Bourse will add 11 new shops and 3 mid-sized units by 2013, one of them dedicated to food service.
Galeries Lafayette and Lafayette Gourmet will also be fully renovated and reinvented.

A living space

The interior of the shopping center will also undergo a full renovation. It will be redesigned to offer visitors a sense of fluidity, clarity and comfort thanks in part to the restructured alleys, a new ceiling, low-watt eco-lighting, glass railings and interactive signage.

Completely renovated, the glass dome will now be accessible to all visitors via a new escalator. The open space below will offer access to Fnac and to the third level of the Galeries Lafayette department store.

Lastly, the creation of new rest areas with designer furniture and specially-conceived meeting and information points will add to the level of comfort and hospitality offered by this facility, which welcomes 7 million visitors a year.

Gilles Latini, Head of development for the Klépierre Ségécé Southeast region, commented on the start of the project: "We are delighted to participate in and supporting the retail and urban facelift of one of the oldest retail neighborhoods of Marseille, just next to the Vieux Port.”

Partners on the project

• Klépierre Ségécé
• Citynove, real estate subsidiary of Galeries Lafayette
• City of Marseille
• MPM urban community

*GLA (Gross Leasable Area): sales and storage area

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About:

Centre Bourse
17, cours Belsunce – Marseille
The first downtown shopping center inaugurated by Klépierre Ségécé in France in 1977, Centre Bourse is one of the leading lights of the historical downtown area of Marseille. It welcomes more than 7 million visitors a year and features major retailers such as Galeries Lafayette, Fnac, Go Sport and Habitat. In the heart of a catchment area that counts more than 1.5 million inhabitants, Centre Bourse will be fully renovated by the end of 2013. Upon completion, it will offer 25 000 sq.m. GLA* and 76 stores, including 14 new shops.
Owned 50/50 by Klépierre and AXA, it has been managed since 1976 by Ségécé.

Klépierre
Klépierre, a listed real estate investment company (SIIC), held assets valued at 15.1 billion euros on June 30, 2010. Its shopping center assets comprise 90.9% of its holdings (it owns 272 shopping centers in 13 continental European countries). It also owns retail properties (4.1%) via Klémurs and office properties in Paris (5.0%). Klépierre’s majority shareholder is BNP Paribas (50.9%). A long-term investor, Klépierre specializes in designing, managing and enhancing the value of its real estate assets via its subsidiaries Ségécé and Steen & Strøm, Scandinavia’s number one owner and manager of shopping centers. The combination of these specialists within a single group has made the latter the partner of choice for cities and retailers seeking the lasting success of their commercial projects.

For more information, go to: www.klepierre.com www.segece.com

Moatti & Rivière
Moatti et Rivière is the result of an encounter between Alain Moatti, architect and scenographer, and Henri Rivière, architect and designer. The agency does business in France and abroad.
The firm has significant experience in the creation of public facilities with a cultural vocation: Cité internationale de la dentelle et de la mode in Calais, the Champollion Museum in Figeac, the Charles-de-Gaulle Historial in Paris and Grande Halle in Arles. It has just been selected to rethink the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.
In the design of retail and hotel spaces, satisfied clients include Klépierre Ségécé, Accor, Kempinski Hotel and Resort, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yannick Alleno, Yves Saint Laurent and Baccarat.

Georges Raskin
Based in Marseille since 1982, the Georges Raskin agency focuses on housing, offices and retail spaces. The agency has worked on behalf of clients that include Klépierre Ségécé, Galeries Lafayette, Carrefour and Vinci.
On the Centre Bourse project, Georges Raskin began working on its construction in 1975 as a collaborator of Jacques Henri Labourdette, the first architect of Centre Bourse. Since then, he has played a role in all of the Center’s transformations.