Carefully woven into the texture and flow of Chile’s capital city, the Mercado Urbano Tobalaba meets a growing demand for Class-A office space while serving the community through its transit connections and a well-balanced mix of shops and restaurants.
Nearly a full city block in size, the mixed-use complex sits at the confluence of two major boulevards and a mass transit hub, a location that experiences an exceptionally high volume of pedestrian traffic (over 3.5 million people a month). KPF’s concept situates three mid-rise office towers around an open plaza, designed in profile to echo the nearby Andes mountain range. Double-height retail lines the street, with a destination retail experience in the form of a hill village nestled among the towers on an upper ground plane.
An internal network of circulation elements leads visitors from subway to street level to the main plaza, with a multi-level park for cars and bikes offered below grade. A new pedestrian tunnel, proposed in collaboration with local authorities, not only relieves the congestion of the subterranean transit system but also provides a safe alternative to crossing the busy vehicular intersection. Altogether, the center provides a new destination for both work and leisure in the heart of the city.
