Echo Investment announced the new name of its retail project in Katowice on the 11th of February this year, at 4 Design Days. Galeria Libero is the official name of the facility which is to be built at the junction of ul. Kościuszki and ul. Kolejowa.

“The new name reflects the values which we have built the brand image on. The shopping centre in Katowice will be a modern facility which will always be up to date and promote values such as innovation, joy and team spirit. It will be a new public space which will have a positive influence on its surroundings and follow ecological and sustainable development trends. It will be a meeting area for people who want to improve the quality of their lives and understand the "lifestyle" term properly. The pillars of the new name are the assets of our project, which result from its function and offer, that is why we put an emphasis on comfort, variety and freedom. Thus the name Libero, which means freedom in Latin and Esperanto. Libero alludes directly to the Ligota district, a name which also signifies freedom,” says Katarzyna Porębska, marketing manager in Echo Investment"s Shopping Centre Department. Galeria Libero is to be distinguished by three main features: its broad offer, comfort, friendly atmosphere and architecture. “We are aware that modern customers of shopping centres expect much more than just satisfaction of their basic shopping needs. They want a better developed area and a better organized time. The style, surroundings and atmosphere of shopping are of more and more importance compared to what people buy. That is why we focused on the entertainment offer in our project including the most modern cinema in the city, a fitness club and an extended play area for children. In this way we create the best entertainment and sport offer in Upper Silesia in one place. The gastronomy offer will also be outstanding – there will be restaurants with access to an outdoor terrace as well as numerous cafes located all over the shopping centre,” says Tomasz Domoń, director of the commercialization team in Echo Investment"s Shopping Centre Department. The author of the design of Galeria Libero is the MOFO Architekci architectural studio. “For us architecture involves careful shaping of the space. Our idea is not just to fill areas indicated by the client according to spatial development conditions. We hope that the area created by Galeria Libero will provide a sense of appropriate use thereof, it will order the space and give it a big-city feel and a sense of nobility,” says Paweł Zieliński, architect and president of MOFO Architekci. At the beginning of the year Echo Investment organized an architectural design concerning the development of a square in front of Galeria Libero. The first few proposals will be presented in mid-February and the competition is to be settled at the end of the month. Galeria Libero will be built on a plot with an area of 54,000 sqm. The facility will offer a retail and entertainment area of 42,000 sqm which will be located on three floors. Apart from shops and service outlets as well as some of the most important chains and a supermarket, the shopping centre will also include a very extensive entertainment and gastronomy offer which will consist of a 7-screen cinema, a snooker club, a play area for children, squash and badminton courts, restaurants offering access to a terrace. The facility is to be developed on ul. Tadeusza Kościuszki – one of the most important traffic routes in the city, which is used by as many as 15,000 cars per hour. www.galerialibero.pl