The Oracle, Reading

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The Oracle


Location	Reading, Berkshire, UK
Opening date	23 September 1999
Developer	Hammerson
Management	Donaldsons
Owner	Hammerson (50%), ADIC (50%)
No. of stores and services	90
No. of anchor tenants	2 (Debenhams, House of Fraser)
Total retail floor area	76,200m²
Parking	2,300 spaces
No. of floors	3
Website	www.theoracle.com

The Oracle is a large indoor shopping and leisure mall by London-based Hammerson plc, located on the banks of the River Kennet in central Reading, United Kingdom.

1 History
2 About
3 Notable stores
4 Awards
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

The Oracle takes its name from a 17th century workhouse built by funds from a local man John Kendrick. This once occupied a small part of the site now occupied by the shopping centre.

In March 1997 Hammerson acquired a 22 acre site of largely derelict and undeveloped land immediately to the south of the city centre. Most of this site was previously occupied by Simond's Brewery (latterly owned by the Courage brewing company) and by the Reading Transport bus depot (formerly the Reading Corporation tram depot). The brewery had earlier relocated to a new site adjoining the M4 motorway, whilst the bus depot was relocated to a location just west of the city centre as one of the first phases of the redevelopment.

Internal mall

Hammerson’s strategy was to create a combination of big-name retailers at the new center, including a number of international retail banners fairly new to Britain. The merchandise mix has strong emphasis on fashion and is slightly higher-end than the average for Reading’s main street shops. Peter Cole, the development director for Hammerson said “We were looking to bring in a retail mix that would enhance what was already there - we wanted to get the right caliber retailers to suit the slightly higher-end shopping demographic of the area.”^[1]

The main shopping malls comprising phase I of The Oracle was opened in September 1999, followed in November by the Riverside restaurants, pubs and cinema that made up phase II. Once phase I was complete, the way was open to relocate the Debenhams department store from its previous location on Broad Street into the centre. This in turn allowed for the redevelopment of the old Debenhams site as phase III of The Oracle, linked to phase I by a bridge over Minster Street. Phase III provided The Oracle with its all-important direct link to Broad Street, and opened in May 2000.^[2]

Although now well-respected and appreciated by local residents, the Oracle caused local controversy when first opened.^[3] On the other hand, many of the stores within the Oracle did not previously exist in Reading and have substantially improved its status as a shopping destination.

The Oracle also provides two large car parks providing 2300 spaces. In line with other car parks in central Reading, charges are comparatively high, especially for long term parkers.^[4]

In 2002 Reading was named eighth best town centre in the country.^[5] In 2007 the Oracle centre was ranked 16th in a league table of best performing retail centres in the UK compiled by economic analyst Experian. In a separate poll carried out by Verdict Reading was placed 10th in the table of UK shopping destinations.^[6]

[edit] About

Broad Street frontage

Riverside level

Riverside level, with the river in flood

The centre contains 90 shops, including department stores from the Debenhams (136,000ft²) and House of Fraser (150,000ft²) chains. A third and larger department store, John Lewis, is adjacent to the Minster Street entrance but not part of the centre itself. There are also 22 restaurants, cafés and bars along the riverside of the Kennet, and a 10-screen Vue cinema. The Oracle increases Reading’s retail footage by one-third, and it has attracted some retailers who would otherwise not have located in Reading.

The Oracle’s clean-lined, retro-modern storefronts follow the curving banks of the Kennett, with space beside the waterway for patio tables, granite stadium-style seating and sail-like canopies. The Free Form Arts Trust were appointed as the arts agency with responsibility for the appointment and contractual arrangements with artists. Specially commissioned artworks include the Crystal Beacon, a reflective translucent prism by Welsh artist John Gingell that tops off the multistory car park.

Two bridges have been installed spanning the Kennet, Cooks Bridge, a straight footbridge which links The Riverside Car Park to House of Fraser, and Delphi Bridge, an ‘ellipse-shaped’ bridge giving access from the Vue cinema to Debenhams.

The overall center design concept was created by Haskoll & Co., London. They were called in to design a "retail for leisure" concept, linking the site to a heritage trail around the town.

Steve Belam is General Manager of The Oracle.