Maryland mall is another addition to the recent explosion in the construction industry of large retail centres in the Nigeria. It is however the first designed Mall with a team of indigenous Consultants. The Mall, now termed ‘THE BIG BLACK BOX’ was constructed over a 16months period with hand-over achieved in July 2016. With over 7000 square meters of retail space, It hosts Shoprite & Genesis Cinemas as anchor tenants, a food-court with diverse options, Banking & over 40 retail outlets. The black silhouette emphasises the brand advertising and LED screen on its exterior combined with the magic of retail on the inside. The Mall features a 9×60 meter LED screen on the front facade facing Ikorodu road for advertisements and a source of amusement and attraction for passersby. It is the longest in West Africa. In reality, the LED screen provides vertical revenue, while the retail provides horizontal revenue. The Building on four levels has appropriately zoned activities on each floor. The food-court and cinema are situated on the 2nd floor to purposely draw the visitor to the top floors. The 2nd floor consists of a double volume space and two skylights to allow natural lighting which creates an aura that is comfortable and attraction to spend 'long hours in this space'. In contrast to the Brutalist minimal exterior, the interior opens up to a warm white walls and interchangeable ceiling levels to give it an illusion of height. Our building is proudly playful, unconventional and unapologetic in its design and serves as an unforgettable landmark in the heart of Lagos. Designing within a budget- As Architects, we seasonally design without due diligence placed on cost. The first concept design, we proposed an interesting façade with extruded fins in a wave-like pattern. This was quickly discarded because of the financial implication. Within the limitations set, we came up with a minimalist exterior from which the term “the big black box” was generated, with full focus on the LED screen which serves as a revenue generator for the Client, in essence, the facade paid for itself. Traffic Impact of the Mall to the surrounding neighbourhood – Due to the location of the Mall along Ikorodu road and a walking distance to Maryland bus stop, we were aware of the traffic impact the Mall was going to generate, and with the assistance of the Ministry of Transportation within the Planning Authorities, we were able to create a slip-way that accommodates 40 cars on 2 lanes, taking our traffic off Ikorodu road and into our site before entering the Mall . Achieving the Project Deadline- Much of this task fell heavily on the Project Manager, it was however our responsibility to oversee quality control and the successful delivery of the Mall. This Building was delivered from concept design to finished building in 30months.