Mall of America, USA

Most Frequented Building

The large-scale Mall of America is a hub for the residents of Bloomington, providing tourist accommodation at the JW Marriott Hotel and a myriad of shops and restaurants.
 
The Mall of America in Minneapolis opened its doors to the public in 1992 and is now the most frequented building in the United States with over 42 million visitors per year. In an effort to preserve this notable status, Triple Five Group decided to reinvigorate the existing mall through an expansion, which would reinforce the center’s strong brand and status as a tourist destination.
 

Started in 2012, the extension added over one million square feet to the center, which included a retail expansion, luxury hotel, office tower, and underground parking. The new glazed entry gives the mall an outward orientation and draws visitors to the activity within. With its terrazzo flooring, stone wall details, and concealed indirect lighting, the retail expansion is centered around a grand atrium that utilizes active tinting glass. The exterior of the retail podium consists of a Swisspearl rainscreen and continuous glazing, which provide a backdrop to a dramatic installation at the entry.
 

The JW Marriott is a new, fifteen-story luxury hotel with 342 rooms, full service restaurant, bar, lounge, pool, fitness center, meeting spaces, and executive lounge. The hotel structure comprises post-tensioned concrete in the guestroom tower and structural steel with composite decks in the hotel’s public meeting space. The enclosure is designed as a rainscreen system made from Swisspearl, metal panels, and a glass curtainwall. The office tower to the west of the hotel with a steel superstructure, is also clad in Swisspearl panels and has a glazed curtainwall. The tower is crowned with dramatic LED lighting on the exterior balconies where guests can enjoy panoramic views of the CBD and the Minnesota River Valley.
 

 

 

Want to find out more about this project?

You can find a detailed report including drawings in the Swisspearl Architecture magazine 26. Subscribe to our magazine to get the printed issue or download the PDF in the download center of our website.

 

NICE TO KNOW

Object
Mall of America, USA

 

Location
60 East Broadway, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

 

Client
Triple Five and Hotel Development LLC, Minneapolis

 

Architects
DLR Group, Minneapolis; Ed Wilms

 

Photos
Richard Brine, Minneapolis/Chicago/London

 

Building period
2014 – 2015

 

General contractor
Mortenson, Minneapolis

 

Façade construction
MG McGrath, Maplewood

 

Façade material
Swisspearl Carat custom color

 

PDF project sheet
Click here to download the project sheet