Since 1936, ABC was the first retail store to branch throughout the country, and expanded its reach to a wider scope of customers were they host an average of 11 million visitors per year.
On July 27 , ABC opened their doors to shoppers in Verdun – Beirut, a joint venture between ABC and Bahaa Rafic Hariri Group.
A project worth $300 million spreads across 1.3 million sqft – with 538,195 sqft of Gross leasable area housing 230 stores across six levels, the department store alone spanning over 113,021 sqft . Around 53,820 sqft has been allocated for entertainment, while also ensuring enough space for parking, and three pedestrian and four car entrances. In addition, the project offers more than 2,000 job opportunities for Lebanese youth.
Main Contractor: MAN Enterprise
Consultant: Khatib & Alami
Project Manager: DG Jones
Architecture Firm: Calisson RTKL
Landscape architect – Garden: Vladimir Djurovic
Department Store: Kinnersley Kent Design – KKD
Calisson design was based on the same concept of ABC Ashrafieh ; which was based on the connection between the interior of the mall with the exterior surrounding ,emphasizing on how Ashrafieh architecture and design protects shoppers from climate factors while at the same time provide natural light and ventilation for the mall.
The facade as well encompasses flat and curved, single, low-iron, fully toughened, heat-soak-tested glass units, with the “neutral panel” formed of solid aluminum PVDF coated sheets.
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In addition they worked on four strategic car entrances that serve 1700 parking spaces which is more than the regular proportion for this size of business just to ease traffic congestion and give visitors excellent access to the mall.
The Eco-friendly complex placed a high priority on efficient use of energy and recycling. Emphasizing the green space, ABC Verdun invested in a beautiful 1800 square meter Lebanese Garden, to give the city a breathing space. Offering its visitors the chance to be closer to greenery, this innovative space features a variety of greeneries, local flowers, oak and olive trees.
Here are several images taken from the grand opening .
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Copyright ® Abir Moussa
THE CONCEPT 
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