MaXimo Shopping Center, a prestigious architectural structure with a great visual impact

Maximo is a new shopping and leisure center in Rome, designed to fit the changing shopping and leisure needs. It has a consistent offer responding to the competitive context and the consumer trends, a unique tenant mix, a prestigious architectural structure with a great visual impact and a strong, recognizable identity. It has more than 65,000 sqm of GLA distributed over three levels and 160 among shops, restaurants and entertainment businesses. It contains 38 restaurants and a dedicated path for street food, bars, cafés, wine bars, plus 17 craft businesses and a Primark store.
The large open square, with a total area of over 15,000 sqm, isn’t only suitable for hosting cultural, recreational and commercial events, but also represents a real meeting and junction point between Maximo and the Laurentino neighborhood, in the South-East of Rome.
From the very first sketches and ideas, the fundamental pillars on which the project would be based were defined: natural light, large windows, and a complex and embracing internal space. Everything has been imagined and designed starting from the visitors’ experience, according to a values scale that puts the human being at the center. The visitor is then surrounded by a sequence of visual points of focus (the windows) enhancing the contrast between full and empty spaces, also improved by the texture of the skylights, bathing the space in natural light.
Speaking of the external look of the shopping center, given its position within the existing urban context and its proximity to the Grande Raccordo Anulare, the idea was to design something that could catch the eye of the people entering Rome, something that could arouse curiosity and let people want to come back again. The inspiration was taken from the shape of a whale.
Maximo is a true “destination” for shopping as well as leisure and socializing, with its capacity to attract a large consumer base, estimated at 3.5 million inhabitants within a 40-minute journey. It is easily reachable by car directly from the Grande Raccordo Anulare or from the main city roads. The project includes an underground car park with 2,800 spaces and a three-story public car park with a total of 300 spaces, all free of charge. Served by its own bus line connecting it to the Laurentina underground station, Maximo features pedestrian and bicycle connections. There is also a bicycle storage room and numerous electric vehicles charging stations.
The building has three floors, and its commercial galleries are designed to resemble the streets of a city center. In the project, space was given in particular to the entertainment and wellness sectors. Visitors can find more than 40 restaurants and bars offering a wide range of food and beverages in a relaxed and engaging atmosphere, from the Food Court at the first floor to the Food Garden at the second floor, in addition to many street food corners all along the galleries. The supermarket brand chosen for Maximo is PAM (4,700 sqm), while among the large and medium-sized shops enriching the offer of the shopping center there are Decathlon, Maison du Monde, Euronics, Primark, Piazza Italia, H&M, OVS, Pellizzari and La Feltrinelli.
Maximo can also count on a large entertainment offer: the UCI Luxe is a cinema with 7 maxi screens and the latest generation sound system for an immersive experience, where every seat is VIP thanks to the reclining seats, personal table and more space between rows; the JoyVillage is a 2,800 sqm entertainment center where visitors can find Hologate, Italy’s first Virtual Arena, as well as the latest generation of videogames and simulators, billiards, mini-bowling and mini cars; the Joy4Kids is a 550 sqm play area dedicated to children aged 3 to 9, an exciting experience with its Ninja course, Spider Tower, ball cannons and an innovative beach-themed virtual game room.
The complex features also an innovative, welcoming space completely dedicated to healthcare and wellness. The McFit gym, with its 2,100 sqm surface, is open 365 days a year and aims to create a welcoming atmosphere by proposing itself as the real “home of fitness”, thanks to an original mix of styles that embraces industrial, floral elements and modern art. In the GCS clinic patients can find a wide range of affordable healthcare services, with short waiting lists, in a welcoming and functional space. The shopping center also offers services for animals, with Ca’ Zampa, that includes a Veterinary Clinic, dog training courses, a kindergarten and a Pet corner where you can buy food, parapharmaceuticals and accessories.
Maximo has been certified according to the BREEAM protocol, the first and most widespread method of assessing environmental sustainability in the world, and has obtained the “Very Good” qualification. The building is equipped with a high-efficiency natural gas trigeneration plant, which produces hot and cold flows, plus electricity for the communal parts, ensuring the energy self-sufficiency of the complex.