Article source: Jerde

There is a well-known saying that echoes throughout Costa Rica: “Pura Vida.” Locals use the term for everything from greeting one another ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, to saying that ‘everything is great.’ However, the expression is about more than words.  It’s an emotion, it’s an attitude, it’s happiness, and it’s a way of life. And so, to truly be successful, the region’s largest new commercial development needed not just to attract visitors, but it needed to fully capture Pura Vida.

The project – Oxígeno – delivers a new concept of a Human Playground that bridges retail, entertainment, sports, culture, education and gastronomy. More than just a shopping center or lifestyle center, Oxígeno is a dynamic extension of the local community. Part of a multi-phase mixed-use development, this first phase includes 45,000m2 GLA of retail space and more than 15,000m2 of green areas designed around the way residents live, work, and play. Beyond mere commercial offerings, Oxígeno embraces the existing community with ample green areas opened to the public, a jogging trail, and improvements to the public transportation infrastructure including the donation of a train station, constructions of a boulevard connecting two highways, and the widening of front rows to facilitate the operation of public buses. Since its opening in November, Oxígeno has received more than 1.5 million visitors.

Image Courtesy © Jerde

• Architects: Jerde
• Project: Oxígeno Shopping Mall
• Location: Heredia, Costa Rica

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