IKEA Experience Retail Center
Matosinhos, Portugal
Services
15.500 m2
2020
People increasingly look for spaces that feel familiar and low-pressure, where social life can unfold naturally and where time is not measured only in transactions. At the same time, everyday routines are changing. The boundary between snack time and mealtime is becoming less fixed, and growing awareness of how food is produced is reshaping expectations around where, how, and with whom we eat. Retail environments are therefore being pushed to adapt, not only by expanding dining areas, but by rethinking them as social and spatial infrastructures. IKEA leads the market by learning and growing through a series of ambitions and commitments that enable a ‘People & Planet Positive’ footprint. As one of MASSLAB’s mottos that drives our projects, we acknowledge that ‘the best way to predict the future is to design it.’
The IKEA Experience Retail Center responds to these shifts by proposing a retail building conceived as a civic hotspot. The project takes advantage of existing functions in the surrounding area and builds upon them, positioning itself as an extension of the wider urban fabric. Instead of competing with the adjacent shopping mall and the traditional IKEA store, it complements the existing system by adding a programmatic layer centred on collective use, social responsibility, and regional connection. In this sense, it is designed to be used not only by regular IKEA visitors, but also by people who might otherwise bypass the retail complex.
Millennials and Gen Z would choose to spend money on an experience over an object, as 74% of people prioritize experiences over products. — Forbes
Food becomes the main organising element. The project moves beyond the conventional food court by integrating different stages of the food cycle within a single spatial sequence. Farming, processing, shared kitchens, retail, and recycling are brought together so that production, consumption, and learning can coexist. This redistribution of the standard retail layout places food and leisure at the forefront, reframing how public life can take place within a commercial setting.
The relationship with the landscape is fundamental to the proposal. By lifting the main volume above ground level, the project frees the terrain below for public use and reinforces continuity between interior programmes and outdoor space. This elevated structure establishes a clear landmark without asserting dominance, adding value to the existing ensemble while improving accessibility and spatial flow between buildings.
Architecturally, the project is conceived as a continuous spiral loop organised around a circular core. Supporting and complementary functions orbit this centre, following a formal and informal logic that distributes standard retail spaces along the perimeter and concentrates more flexible, adaptable activities towards the interior. This configuration allows the building to negotiate between intimate and collective scales, accommodating different rhythms of use throughout the day.
Status
Complete, Private
Client
Ingka Centres
Design team
Diogo Sousa Rocha
Duarte Ramalho Fontes
Pedro Faustino
Lorenzo Mancini
Giacomo Cruciani
Helena Lima
Catarina Vilarinho
Petra Simoes
Consultants
Oh!Land Studio
GEG
