UKC RETAIL
Westfield London
The future for Croydon
The £1Bn joint venture between Westfield and Hammerson to redevelop the Whitgift and adjacent Centrale shopping centre will transform retail in Croydon, re-establishing the area as a premier shopping destination for south London. The redevelopment will add 51,000sq m of high quality retail, residential and mixed-use space to create an appealing townscape with a vibrant pedestrian quarter. The precinct’s new homes, shops and businesses will be a valuable addition to the community that lives and works in the White City Opportunity Area. It will deliver 5,000 new jobs and in addition to key anchor stores, over 300 shops, restaurants and cafes will bring together a dynamic mix of high street fashion, food and lifestyle brands. The scheme also benefits from improvements to the public transport infrastructure that includes a major bus, rail and taxi interchange. The Croydon Partnership aims to address the issue of poor connections between the existing retail centres and the surrounding area to provide a cohesive and integrated town centre for the benefit of all local businesses. New leisure facilities in the form of a multi-screen cinema, bowling alley and restaurants will be incorporated, as well as up to 600 new homes and new public realm improvements and solutions to the long-term road
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access issues for Wellesley Road. New car parking spaces will make visiting Croydon easier and safer for residents. This will take the form of a new 3,500 space car park using modern technology that will make parking easier and safer. For many years, the Whitgift Centre has suffered a decline through lack of investment and work is being undertaken because of this, as well as the centre having many vacant shops. The layout of the centre no longer meets the needs of modern retailers and doesn’t encourage pedestrian routes and connectivity to the wider town centre. With Croydon being one of London’s largest boroughs, it needs to be reestablished as not only a prime retail destination, but also a leisure destination. Croydon and its surrounding area have a large and expanding population with many people currently shopping in other locations. A modern redeveloped Whitgift Centre will attract these people back to Croydon town centre. Evidence shows there is a clear demand from a range of retailers to locate in a modern Croydon, including a large department store. A successful town centre needs good transport links. This is something Croydon possesses and is improving them further with new trams and improvements at Croydon station. By successfully regenerating the centre, there will be an increase in the number
of people and money spent in Croydon. This will help breathe new life into local and independent businesses that have struggled to compete in recent years. The new connections through the scheme will help people to explore the wider town centre and introducing new homes will help to sustain and grow the town centre to be a more vibrant location to live and work. The development will be built to the highest sustainability and environmental standards. It is aiming to achieve an ‘Excellent’ rating for the commercial spaces and a Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 for the residential units. Development will make use of previously built on land, while sustainable, energy efficient building techniques will reduce CO2 emissions. Provision of water efficient toilets, including sanitary supply shut off and pulsed water metering will be used, as will best practice environmental design, including good daylight, ventilation and acoustics. Low zero carbon technologies are being incorporated, such as a combined cooling system and power plant and PV panels that will further reduce CO2 emissions, and recycling will be maximised as well as implementation of the best practicable environmental options. The end result will be a sustainable, high quality, retail-led mixed-use development with new homes for Croydon.