Echo Investment has started construction of Galeria Olimpia in Bełchatów. The planned opening date of the facility is August 2012.

Galeria Olimpia is a shopping and entertainment centre which is to be opened on completion of the extension of the existing ECHO Shopping Centre located on the streets of Kolejowa and Armii Krajowej in Bełchatów.

The commercialization process is progressing very smoothly. “The lease level is currently 60 pct. We have concluded contracts with the Tesco hypermarket, a six-screen Multikino cinema with 1,233 seats as well as the Rossmann, CCC and Martes Sport chains, among others” says Marcin Materny, Shopping Centre Department Director at Echo Investment.

The total leasable area of the extended facility will amount to 30,500 sqm. There will be approx. 100 shops in the facility. Customers will have 1,100 parking spaces at their disposal. The design has been prepared by the MOFO Architekci architectural studio. The planned opening date of Galeria Olimpia in Bełchatów is August 2012.

Krzysztof Wużyk from MOFO Architekci architectural studio where Galeria Olimpia has been designed: “The facility is L-shaped. Its total length amounts to 216 metres while its width is close to 200 metres. The body of the building is characterized by its horizontal nature. Its front facade is accentuated by a change in height. Galeria Olimpia’s characteristic feature influencing its easy visual identification is a row of columns made of glued laminated wood, which is set along the front facade. The main and side entrances are highlighted by vertical glazing of the system of doors and windows. It is accompanied by a strip of glass shop fronts, over which are facings of matt lacquered glass. The entire front facade is enclosed in the frame created by the roof of the walking gallery. Around the entrance to the car park the facade rises above the level of the whole area in order to go beyond the outline of the building in the form of a truss. The facades of smaller cinema rooms are covered with laminate boards with wood-like veneer while the side elevations of the facility – by strips of steel sheet cladding. The same cladding is used on the facades of the largest cinema on the corner. There will be elements supporting climbing plants such as the Japanese honeysuckle and English ivy on the facades facing the streets of Pożaryskiego and Kolejowa”.

Influences of nature will also be seen in the interiors of the building: the skylight above the food court area resembles a large leaf and ornaments inspired by the geometry of plants are to appear in the passage ways.