WaltherPark AG
BOLZANO: A New Kind of Shopping Center
Between culture and commerce, nature and architecture, heritage and modernity, the expected and the unexpected... WaltherPark is a destination designed to connect the historic city center with the train station. A truly mixed-use development, it brings together a 4-star hotel, apartments, a sports center, offices, and a compact shopping center. The latter spans four levels, featuring 80 stores across three floors and a large food market on the top level, opening onto a panoramic terrace with views of the Italian Alps. Saguez & Partners designed the interior design, working in close dialogue with the striking architecture of David Chipperfield Architects.
Photos © Eric Laignel
Key Facts
Architect: David Chipperfield Architects
Total area: 127,000 m²
35,000 m² is dedicated to retail
80 stores
3 floors dedicated to shopping
4,000 m² food market
5,000 m² supermarket
A new type of gallery and passageway between the old town and the station.
An Indoor Promenade Inspired by the Dolomites
Spread across four levels - three dedicated to retail and a top floor housing Il Mercato Centrale food market, a fitness center, and a climbing gym - the shopping center is experienced as a single promenade shaped by three distinct atmospheres.
The ground floor and basement are designed for convenience and everyday comfort, while the upper levels embrace a more hospitality-inspired feel, encouraging visitors to slow down and linger.
Sustainability was another key priority. Saguez & Partners paid particular attention to the selection of local and responsible materials, including Italian terrazzo for the main flooring, timber sourced from South Tyrol’s forests, and furniture crafted by Italian design brands.
In the mountains, the eye is naturally drawn upward and into the distance. The ceilings of the atriums and galleries extend this sense of elevation. Their undersides feature a graphic composition of wood slats, creating flowing curves that evoke both the grain of wood and the contours of alpine landscapes.
"Saguez & Partners envisioned the interior of WaltherPark as a journey through the Dolomites, with panoramic viewpoints, moments of intensity, and others of calm. We organized the different levels around the rhythms of everyday life, creating an overall experience rooted in hospitality."
Isabelle Dufieux, Creative Director, Saguez & Partners.
Art in a Shopping Center?
Saguez & Partners invited designer Sabine Marcelis to create Alpen Glow, an immersive installation inspired by the shifting colors of Dolomite sunsets.
Set within the atrium, the artwork combines colored glass panels and luminous lines that evolve with natural light and visitors’ movements, gradually transforming the passage into an immersive and sensory experience.
Un lieu mixed-use entre culture et commerce, nature et architecture, patrimoine et modernité...
Credits & Project Team
Client: WaltherPark AG
Architecture: David Chipperfield Architects Berlin
Executif Architect: Area 17
Landscape Architecture: Studio Polymorphe
Interior Design: Saguez & Partners (WaltherPark Shopping Center) | TA Torsello Architettura (il Mercato Centrale Bolzano Bozen - WaltherPark) | Aggi Bruch (Falkensteiner Hotel) | Muza Lab (Mochi Restaurant)
Il Mercato Centrale Bolzano Bozen Branding: Almagreal
Alpen Glow Artwork: Sabine Marcelis
General Contractor: Dieter Mathoi Architekten
Structural Engineering: Ingenieurteam Bergmeister GmbH
Services engineer: Dabster Srl, ZFG-Projekt GmbH
Project Management: F&M Ingegneria