Investing in Property has published an article on the partnership between DRS-Architects and Primark, at a point where the Irish retailer has reached seven stores in Romania — AFI Cotroceni, ParkLake, Iulius Timișoara, VIVO! Cluj, Electroputere Craiova, Shopping City Sibiu and Palas Iași — with two more under development, at Arena Mall Bacău and Sun Plaza, and four further locations in planning. The article describes the practice's role as local technical partner for a brand that brings its own concept into a market where rules and buildings differ from one location to the next: checking and adapting the solutions to the local framework, preparing the approvals and building-permit documentation, coordinating implementation and providing technical assistance on site, including site supervision and health-and-safety coordination. Mihnea Munteanu, partner and coordinator of the Primark projects, explains the working method — analysing the shell & core space against the fit-out proposal, suggesting ways to optimise the interventions and their cost, and clearing technical issues at design stage so that fewer changes are needed during construction — and gives the example of Arena Mall Bacău, where the store's fire safety solutions had to be reconciled with those of the building. The piece also reviews the rest of the practice's retail portfolio, from Mega Mall and Timișoara Shopping City to the City Park Mall Constanța extension, together with the projects currently in progress: three developments for Square 7, refurbishments in Suceava and Focșani, a strip mall in Lugoj and the collaboration with REWE on Penny stores. Andrei Lefter closes with the idea that long-term partnerships with international retailers build experience that accumulates from one project to the next, which the practice wants to bring to the meeting point between international standards and the reality of each location in Romania.
Source: Investing in Property, 22 September 2026 — DRS Architects, între expansiunea Primark și realitatea locală: parteneriatul care pune în mișcare noi proiecte în RomâniaLink: Investing in Property
