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    There are few rare joys that match the relief of sitting down on a comfortable bench during an intensive shopping trip; the moment of peace that comes with laying down your bags, and having a few seconds to gather your thoughts in the midst of a busy retail park. 

    Our lives are governed by periods of intense shopping: Christmas, birthdays, back-to-school, Halloween, New Year’s sales, Black Friday, summer holidays. Even if you abstain from most of these events, there will come a time when you have to shop, and the convenience of a retail park is hard to beat.

    When that does happen, the first thing you might look for is a public seat, somewhere to sit with the noise and plan out where to go first. 

    It’s human nature to create a small base of operations for ourselves, somewhere where we feel comfortable lingering. 

    And while retail parks don’t usually give a world of seating opportunities, the ones that present themselves should give us the time to linger as long as we need to.

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    The value of rest zones in shopping centres

    Picture your nearest retail centre; the size bears no difference, but it’s likely that it’s quite a large space to begin with. Getting to the retail centre alone will take time and effort: whether you opt for the bus, to bike there, to take a taxi or carpool, the process of leaving your home for a shopping trip will be significantly more difficult than popping around to the corner shops. Retail parks are designed to pack in the maximum shopping opportunity in every square inch of space, which means they are often located a little farther from residential areas. By this point, shoppers have already combatted the traffic, the weather, and the general preparations of leaving the house.

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    When they arrive at the retail park, there are further elements to contend with: the noise, for one, and the crowds. On holidays or during sale events, this can be magnified as scores descend on the retail park for a bargain.

    A rest zone – a bench, tucked away in a quiet corner; a seating arrangement within an indoor garden – can give shoppers pause for thought, providing a balm against the process of getting there. The restorative effects of a place to sit, with no obligation to pay for that seat in an unwanted coffee, are magnanimous.

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    A retail park for everyone

    Beyond the thought-gathering qualities of a good bench, there are also myriad benefits to simply providing a rest zone for the sake of the population who frequents the retail shopping centre, the high street, the district lined wall to wall with shops. 

    People have different levels of mobility and capability. Moving around for long periods of time might not be possible for the elderly, who can additionally struggle with getting to the shops in the first place, or for the differently-abled who need to stop and catch their breath at a steadier pace than others. A rest zone within walking distance of the shops provides an opportunity to build that retail location into a community hub: after all, if there is a good place to sit and watch the world go by, why not sit and watch the world go by.

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    The creation of multifunctional spaces – retail park, community hub, and third space – ensures that the existing retail space has a future of operations once the shops close for the day. It encourages higher footfall, and it invites a greater portion of the nearby community to consider that retail space as a functional extension of their village or borough.

    And with people continuously, effortlessly, enjoying the space that has previously only had a singular function, there is room for further expansion for the retail park, extending its use into something outside of shopping. We’ve seen it happen ourselves with Gallions Reach; it can certainly happen to other retail centres who provide the same opportunities to simply linger!

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    A future outside of retail

    A retail shopping centre is created to provide a singular service: collecting all the valuable places within a borough into one location to make it easier for multiple shops to profit. However, shops have operational limitations: they’re typically only open until 5 or 6PM, and as more people choose to either shop online or to abstain from shopping, they may reduce those hours further to limit wasting energy and their own time. At the very worst, a shop can simply stop renting its allotted space, which means that the retail park will lose a valuable resource. The rising cost of living has also put a dent in the general operations of a retail centre, and as with many other industries, the cost of materials and of running the retail shopping centre can prove to be a little higher than they used to be.

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    Diversifying outside of purely retail, and providing places to visit outside of shop operation hours, helps on three fronts: it brings people to the retail centre, it makes use of a space designed to hold numerous people comfortably, and it creates a community aspect that can encourage far greater investment in the location.

    The first step is a comfortable place to sit. 

    Retail shopping centre benches: a consideration

    Designing seating areas for retail shopping centres take a few things into consideration.

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    1. The location of the seating arrangement – a bench relegated to a dark corner might attract a few people, but a bench placed underneath a skylight or in the central hub of the shopping centre would do better. 

    2. The variety of seating – some people prefer using arm rests to leverage their way in and out of seats, others might like to lean back and shut their eyes for a spell. You can still find others who would like to be included in the centre of the conversation, but might find it difficult to settle themselves in due to their mobility aids. 

    3. The atmosphere of the seating arrangement – a comfortable place to sit is one fundamental aspect; another is whether it feels comfortable to linger. Elements such as greenery and planters can create a much more welcoming atmosphere than a simpler set-up with just benches.

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    4. The use of the retail space overall – if the shops are spaced out far enough, a singular seating arrangement in a central point could provide some relief to those areas, but pull people away from exploring the rest of the retail centre. If space allows, several pockets of seating might prove a better overall flow within the shopping centre. 

    5. Materials to use – stand out or blend in? Colourful seating is pleasing to the eye, but could be discordant in a shopping centre due to the variety of shops; on the other hand, timber seating can add a nice, natural feel to the retail centre which could be lacking in a new build or a newly refurbished shopping centre. 

    6. To plant or not to plant? – We’re a fan of greenery – you’ll be able to see it in some of our older case studies – but depending on where your seating arrangements are, the kind of greenery you pick could be very different from what you’re envisioning.

    A bench is never simply a bench: it is an opportunity for connection, a part of the community, and a way of encouraging a slower way of living. For retail spaces that rely on footfall, designing spaces that prioritise lingering helps the retail shopping centre, the shops within it, and the community that frequents that location.