Donau Zentrum
The Westfield Donau Zentrum is a shopping center in Vienna's 22nd district, Donaustadt. With the Kitchen restaurant area connected to the center, it is the largest shopping center and entertainment center in Vienna.
History
The shopping center was opened in 1975 with ; today's sales area is. There are over 262 retail, catering and entertainment establishments on a total area of approximately . The center has been expanded several times since 1975. From 2009 to October 2010 it was expanded and rebuilt. In autumn 2021, the center changed its former name “Donau Zentrum” to Westfield Donau Zentrum. In September 2021, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield named six locations in four European markets as Westfield Destinations.The new building, opened in October 2010, contains over 60 new shops and, at, provides a third of the additional retail space. The 38-metre-high sculpture Sonnenstrahl, which opened in mid-October 2010, is intended to complement the water drop depiction on the outer wall of the southern part of the center. The front of the center opposite the Kagran U-Bahn station has been covered with LED panels, allowing the entire headboard to change color.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield invested around 105 million euros in the expansion of the shopping center, and a further 45 million went into the modernization of the existing shopping center.
The architectural design of the new center was created by the London-based firm Dunnett Craven, specialists in retail properties, in collaboration with the Viennese planning office of architect and master builder Franz Riedl.
In 2012, the Kitchen catering area was renovated. The catering options were expanded and the cinemas were upgraded and equipped with IMAX technology.
At 6 a.m on 9 March 2019, a fire broke out at the Donau Zentrum, requiring a major fire brigade operation that lasted a total of 12 hours. The professional fire brigade temporarily declared alert level 4. In the affected area near the Zentrum Kagran subway station, four shops, a veterinarian's office, and a plasma center were damaged. The fire is believed to have been caused by construction work.
On the afternoon of 20 April 2020, another fire broke out in the roof. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the shops in the shopping center were closed, and the few local shops that were open were evacuated. The fire was brought under control by the evening.
In both incidents, one firefighter was injured during the operation. No civilians were harmed.