Steel on hold

Apsys intended to open the shopping destination Steel in Central France’s Saint-Etienne on May 13, 2020. The Covid-19 crisis thwarted this plan. When the launch actually will take place will be announced as soon as possible. Steel will feature contemporary and emblematic design and architecture–by SUD Architectes, Atelier Rivat and Studio Briand&Berthereau–including a spaceframe roof, inspired by local identity markers. Complementing the city center, the merchandising mix will be structured around brands from the main realms of shopping (Leroy Merlin with a new concept over 14 000 sq m, Decathlon, Orchestra, Boulanger, Maisons du Monde, Mango, IDKids, Basic Fit, Flying Tiger Copenhagen and more) and a dozen restaurants serving cuisine from all over the world.

This “active shopping resort” will also offer a customer experience with 5,000 sq m of indoor leisure activities and 37,000 sq m of creative landscaping with green space and playing fields. Furthermore, Steel takes an exacting approach to sustainable development: the sector’s roadways have been designed to favor soft mobility and public transport. The project aims to achieve Very Good BREEAM certification and the BiodiverCity label.

Aleja, AFI Brasov, and BEO

Apsys will announce as soon as possible when all of that will be available to its customers. However, Steel is not the only shopping destination that was unable to open as planned due to the crisis. Aleja in Slovenia’s Ljubljana, AFI Brasov in Romania’s Brasov as well as BEO in Serbia’s Belgrade are suffering a similar fate. For more on this, please see the following ACROSS article.