WestQuay

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Entrance to WestQuay from Portland Terrace
Entrance to WestQuay from Portland Terrace

WestQuay is a shopping centre in Southampton, England.

WestQuay has an area of 800,000 square feet (70,000 m²) of retail space (74,000 m²) and contains around a hundred shops, including major retailers such as, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Zara, Schuh, Waterstone's, Benetton Bank, Apple, and many more top brand names. It is situated in the centre of the city, close to the docks, with entrances on the main High Street (Above Bar Street), on Portland Terrace, through Waterstone's and through John Lewis. There is also a built in multi storey car park with an entrance into the centre along with a 3 tier car park beneath. Building work began in 1997 as the former Daily Echo building and Pirelli Cable Works were demolished to make way for the centre. The centre was opened on 28 September 2000.

The building is heated using geothermal energy, as is the civic centre. A centralised plant uses heat from an aquifer underground and then distributes it to the buildings in the city centre via a district heating scheme.

The John Lewis store replaced the local department store Tyrrell & Green (a branch of the John Lewis Partnership), which was met with mixed emotions from the local people. Marks & Spencer re-located from Above Bar Street to take the second anchor store.

There have been a few major changes to the centre's shops since its opening. The Tower Records (which faced fierce competition from the HMV store across the street) was replaced with a Nike store, which has closed after just a few months. This unit is now Pret A Manger a sandwich retailer. Waitrose moved to Portswood in 2006. The old Waitrose space is going to be a New Look as the current New Look store in the West Quay is smaller. In October 2007 some representative's from America will be coming to Southampton (West Quay) to learn about geothermal energy.

Contents

[edit] Construction

Demolition began in September 1997 and WestQuay opened on 28 September 2000.

WestQuay has been constructed on the former site of the first Pirelli Cable Works and it measures approximately ¼ of a mile from one end of the construction to the other.

The development crosses over three major roads. It absorbs a 4 ½ metre change in ground level between east and west boundaries.

The length of the mall from the above bar to the harbour parade is 400M

The 20 m support structure from the two-storey glazed retail link over Portland Terrace weighs 400 tonnes.

15,000 cubic metres of crushed concrete from the demolition had been recycled for use on site. 120,000 tonnes of excavated material was removed.

Rubble was taken to tips 50 miles (80 km) away, involving 5,040 Lorry loads.

The roof lights extend to around 350 m in length There are a total of 32 lifts through out the development.

The steel work took 20 weeks to design, order and manufacture.

As many as 13 tower cranes worked on the site. The tallest crane had a 66 m mast and a reach of 65M.

Southampton’s Geothermal Heat Station supplies heat and chilling facilities to the centre.

[edit] Television Publicity

The West Quay has had a lot of adverts on television in the local television region. West Quay has appeared briefly on an episode in the first series of Trinny & Susannah Undress on ITV.

[edit] Awards

February 2000 Marketing Award Destination Southampton

September 2000 Secured Car park.

June 2001 Best High Street Development Property Week

July 2001 Opening, Refurbishment & Major Re-launch Purple Apple, BCSC

August 2001 Cobra Car Park Safety Award Police (Regional)

October 2001 European Week for Safety & Health

December 2001 Best New Centre BCSC

February 2002 Regeneration Award RICS

February 2002 Best New Car Park & Overall Winner British Parking Awards

February 2002 Secured Car Park Award Police

February 2002 Visitor Attraction Award, South Hampshire Destination Southampton

February 2003 Winner of Overall Marketing Campaign Purple Apple, BCSC

February 2003 Best Advertising Campaign Purple Apple, BCSC

March 2004 Services to Disability Award Destination Southampton

September 2004 Tom Hillyer Award National Shopmobility Federation

February 2005 Merit Award BCSC Purple Apple Awards

April 2005 Safe Car Park Award Park Mark

April 2006 Southampton Centre for Independent Living, Access all Areas Readers Award 2006 Southern Daily Echo

April 2006 Safe Car Park Award Park Mark

March 2007 Achieving Customer Excellence (ACE) Award Winner 40,000-80,000 m² category BCSC ACE Awards

March 2007 Achieving Customer Excellence ‘Top ACE’ Overall Award Winner BCSC ACE Awards

March 2007 Effective Management of Off-street Parking –Commendation British Parking Association

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 50.90327° N 1.40692° W