Building Design Partnership - Retail Development - Southampton, WestQuay
Date: 07 Dec 2001
WestQuay - designed by Building Design Partnership for Hammerson and Barclays was awarded The New Centre Award by the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 5 December 2001.
WestQuay, the £350 million (£185 million construction cost) flagship regional shopping centre in Southampton, is anchored by John Lewis and Marks & Spencer and is home to some of the UK's finest retailers.
WestQuay's success is well documented. Since it opened at the end of September 2000 visitor numbers to the city have greatly increased, and Southampton is said to have increased its vitality by 21%. Many of the centre's retailers are new to the region, or have opened flagship stores. Consequently, Southampton's leap from 27 to 13 in the ranking of the top UK cities for retailing reflects the centre's, and the city's, newfound significance.
The challenge to BDP's design team was to scale the mass of the building into individual elements reflecting key retailers and civic spaces and to ensure it is integrated into the varying scales of the surrounding streetscape. The design responds to the maritime tradition of Southampton and takes inspiration from the form of the medieval town walls.
Enclosed, naturally lit malls unite the town centre to the heart of the development. The retailing is arranged over two floors, with the upper level linking directly into Southampton's prime shopping street, Above Bar. The scale of the building increases across the site from east to west. Two storey malls with double height shop fronts culminate in a dramatic third floor 2,000 seat Food Terrace with exciting views over the River Test and the waterfront.
A total of 4,000 new car parking spaces serve WestQuay; 1,800 are located directly below the centre, complemented by a separate multi-storey car park of 2,200 spaces, linked to WestQuay by an elegant glazed pedestrian bridge.
The major part of the centre is built on reclaimed land in the former River Test estuary, and its form creates a new promontory. A 10 metre change in level across the site enables a rational organisation of the development into three storeys of car parking and servicing, sitting below the retail activity. The lower levels are contained within a podium base of knapped flint and a promenade around the top of the podium continues and extends the historic walk around the ancient city walls.
Sitting on top of the podium, the retail and leisure buildings clad in steel and glass reflect, in a modern way, the traditional buildings which sit on the historic walls. A prominent oversailing cornice unites the various elements of retail. The Food Terrace and focal space are housed beneath an impressive barrel vaulted roof spanning 60 metres, which is a dominant feature and helps to create the visual signature of the scheme.
Steel masts and fabric roofs mark the entrances and echo nautical masts and sails of the nearby waterfront. Glass facades have been incorporated into significant areas of the elevation to animate and humanise the building. Natural high quality materials have been selected in a sequence of individual interiors using patterned granite floors, maple wall linings, stainless steel, glass balustrades and timber handrails.
Situated on a 33-acre site in the heart of the city, WestQuay is part of a larger masterplan which establishes links between the town centre, waterfront and the railway, and aims to reverse the historical decline of the town centre. The first phase of the masterplan, for the £30 million 18,395 m² retail park and road infrastructure, has been completed.
BDP's London office was the architect, interior designer and landscape architect for the development in addition to carrying out site supervision and monitoring the contractor's works on behalf of the developer, Hammerson. Cyril Sweett Ltd was quantity surveyor, Oscar Faber, services engineer, Ove Arup & Partners, traffic engineer, and Pell Frischman, structural engineer. The development was constructed under a Design and Build contract by Sir Robert McAlpine, with Chapman Taylor Partners as detailed design architects.
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