Architecture
Designed by OMNIPLAN Architects in the early 1960s, NorthPark Center has maintained an honesty to its original design. For the most recent expansion, NorthPark's owners returned to OMNIPLAN Architects, the architectural firm responsible for the 1960s design. The expansion turned NorthPark's original U-shape into a square design surrounding a 1.4-acre (5,700 m2) landscaped garden known as "CenterPark". Featuring a series of lawns, 41-year-old live oaks and red oaks, and a small collection of art, CenterPark doubles as a park area for visitors and customers to enjoy. This is the only shopping center in the country built around a landscaped garden. NorthPark Center received both the Texas Society of Architects annual Design Award and the 25-year Design Award in 2007 for the original design by OMNIPLAN Architects. Even at the age of 40 years, NorthPark Center has not suffered the dead mall fate of others of similar age. After a major expansion, at 2,350,000 square feet (218,000 m2), it is now the second-largest mall in Texas and the 21st-largest in the U.S. based on total square feet of retail space (gross leasable area) according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Eero Saarinen was hired to design the original Nieman Marcus store; however upon Sarrinen's death in 1961, Kevin Roche completed the design assignment.
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