Westfield London
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| Location | London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, UK |
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| Opening date | 30 October 2008 9am GMT |
| Owner | Westfield Group |
| No. of stores and services | 270 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,614,600 ft² (150,000m²) |
| Parking | 4500 |
| No. of floors | 5 |
| Website | uk.westfield.com/london |
Westfield London is a shopping centre in White City in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The centre was developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn,[1][2] on a site bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220), the Westway (A40) and Wood Lane (A219), and opened on 30 October 2008.[3]
The site is part of the White City district, where several other large scale development projects are under way or in the planning stages. The development is on a large brownfield site, part of which was once the location of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition; the initial site clearance demolished the set of halls still remaining from the exhibition (their cheap-to-build white-painted blank facades said to be the origin of the name "White City"). Much of the site was in use by a railway depot excavated to a lower level and built over.
The centre is noted for its size: with a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²), the equivalent of about 30 football pitches. At the time of its opening it was reported to be the largest shopping centre in Europe.[3]
The nearest London Underground stations are Wood Lane, White City, Shepherd's Bush and Shepherd's Bush Market.
The nearest London Overground station is Shepherd's Bush. This station is also served by longer distance Southern services between Milton Keynes Central and East Croydon.
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[edit] Construction
The initial plan for a shopping centre at this location was developed by a consortium, the largest company involved being the UK division of Australian property company Multiplex Group. However due to heavy financial lossses in other ventures, including the construction of the new Wembley Stadium, Multiplex UK was forced to sell its stake to another Australian company (and competitor), Westfield Group.[4]
The development was built by Westfield Construction, the developer's own construction arm and was delivered on schedule.[5] Robert Bird Group were the structural engineers for the job.[6] The final iconic roof was designed by Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering (Stuttgart, Germany).[7] The project took five years to build, employing 8000 people.[8] The Project Director was John Roberts.
There was a structural/organisational challenge relating to the White City depot of the Central Line (Underground) railway. It covered a large proportion of the site, and had to be kept fully operational while being excavated beneath and relocated bit by bit at a lower level to allow the centre to make use of its previous location.
There were also considerable precautions needed due to the expectation of finding unexploded bombs from raids on a local munitions factory during the World War II blitz.
[edit] Retail area
The centre opened to the public on 30 October 2008 and has a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²).[1] The completed centre features around 255 stores, including All Saints, Apple, Bershka, Boots, Bose, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Coast, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Dwell, Early Learning Centre, Ernest Jones, French Connection, Geox, Gerry Weber, Habitat, Hackett, HMV, Hollister Co., House of Fraser, H.Samuel, Jaeger, Kurt Geiger, LEGO, Mamas & Papas, Mango, Marks & Spencer, Next, Nomination, Reiss, River Island, Topshop, Uniqlo, the multiplex cinema Vue, Waitrose and Zara.
The development also includes a high-end retail area called The Village. The area includes upmarket brands like Burberry, De Beers, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Mulberry, Tiffany & Co and Versace.
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Food Court
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Main Atrium
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Interior
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The Loft
[edit] Vue digital cinema
Vue opened a fourteen-screen cinema on Friday 12 February 2010,[9] including five 3-D-enabled screens, with a seating capacity of almost 3,000.
[edit] Transport connections
The Westfield centre opening coincided with the completion of several major London transport infrastructure projects which now serve the centre and the surrounding area:[10]
- London Underground: two Underground stations serve the centre - Wood Lane station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines) on the western side and the rebuilt Shepherd's Bush station (Central Line). There are also two other stations close by; White City and Shepherd's Bush Market.
- London Overground/Southern: Shepherd's Bush railway station is a new station which has been constructed on the West London Line and opened on 28 September 2008. It is located on the southern side of the development, immediately next to the Central Line tube station.
The opening of the station was delayed by several months when the finished platform was found to be 18 inches narrower than the required width.[11][12]
- Bus and taxi: the Shepherd's Bush Interchange is located to the south of the centre next to the Overground station and includes a bus station and a taxi rank.[13]
Close to Wood Lane tube station is the White City Interchange on Ariel Way; the bus station here is housed in the redeveloped Dimco Buildings (1898), Grade II listed red brick buildings which were originally built in 1898 as a shed for a London Underground power station.[14][15] The Dimco buildings were used as a filming location for the ‘Acme Factory’ in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?[16] - Cycle routes: the development includes some new cycle routes, but advocates consider them woefully inadequate[17]
- Road links: a grade-separated junction connects to the West Cross Route (A3220) which runs alongside the development site.
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Northern Interchange
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Northern Interchange (set-down)
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Southern Interchange
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Wood Lane tube station
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Shepherds Bush tube station
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Shepherds Bush rail station
[edit] Criticism
The arrival of such a substantial new development however has not been without criticism. The full impact Westfield London will have is not yet understood but it is anticipated that the centre will attract trade which otherwise might have gone to the West End and may have a strong negative impact on nearby Kensington High Street.[18] The development has also pushed up rents in the Shepherds Bush area which is expected to impact on the value retail offer in the area with many businesses as well as the Shepherds Bush Market expected to suffer.[19] Others have criticised the centre's "clone stores".[19]
[edit] See also
- List of shopping centres in the United Kingdom
- Westfield Stratford City - another similar development in London
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Westfield flagship opens in London" (Press release). Westfield Group press release. 2007-10-30. http://westfield.com/corporate/news-announcements/media-releases/2008/20081030_12394.html. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- ^ "1st Quarter 2007 – Review". Westfield Group. 2007-05-08. http://westfield.com/corporate/pdf/presentations/WDC_March_Quarter_8May2007.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-12. In a later document published in 2008, the WDC cost was estimated at £1.1bn - see "Westfield Group, Half Year Results Presentation, 30 June 2008". Westfield Group. 2008-08-27. http://westfield.com/corporate/pdf/presentations/ASX_RELEASE_Presentation&Appendix4D_27Aug08.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b "Enormous shopping complex opens". BBC. 2008-10-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7699209.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ "Bleak day as Multiplex sells 'trophy asset'.". http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-132538008.html.
- ^ Structural Systems
- ^ [1] Robert Bird Westfield Description
- ^ http://www.khing.de/projekte_dacher.php?id=42
- ^ HeraldSun.com.au - Westfield to open London mega centre
- ^ "Vue Entertainment to Open Two World Class all Digital Multiplexes at Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City". Westfield Group. 30 April 2009. http://westfield.com/corporate/news-announcements/media-releases/2009/2009610_57978.html. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ "White City and Shepherd's Bush". Transport for London. September 2008. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/9337.aspx. Retrieved 2008-09-27.[dead link]
- ^ Private Eye (1195): pp. 6. 2007-10-12.
- ^ Barney, Katharine. "New railway station over budget...and undersized". Evening Standard. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23416403-details/New+railway+station+over+budget...and+undersized/article.do. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
- ^ Transport for London. "White City Development". Archived from the original on 2007-06-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20070629210258/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/stationsandinterchanges/4752.aspx. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. "Site Proposals - Site 36 White City Centre Site". http://www.maps.lbhf.gov.uk/udp/text/udp_part2_chapter10.asp?section=4&subsection=3&subsection2=1&policy=0&c=k&userExtent=520135:175000:527750:183500. Retrieved 2007-10-02.[dead link]
- ^ Sharpfibre Ltd. "Case study: White City". Archived from the original on 2008-01-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20080101140734/http://www.sharpfibre.co.uk/UK/CaseStudy-WhiteCity.html. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit filming locations". http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/w/whoframed.html. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ London Cycling Campaign (2008-06-26). "Westfield shopping centre is "a cyclist's nightmare"". http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1211. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- ^ Drapers - Analysis Westfield Londons Retail Showdown
- ^ a b The Telegraph - Bloom or bust for Shepherd's Bush?
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Westfield London |
- Westfield London Official Website
- White City Development leaflet (Transport for London, August 2007)
- "New White City travel connections" (Transport for London, September 2008)
Coordinates: 51°30′27″N 0°13′16″W / 51.5075°N 0.22111°W
- White City & Shepherd's Bush description and map of transport developments
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