Princes Quay

Princes Quay

Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Princes Quay
Location Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Coordinates 53°44′32″N 0°20′17″W / 53.742300°N 0.338000°WCoordinates: 53°44′32″N 0°20′17″W / 53.742300°N 0.338000°W
No. of floors 4
Parking over 920+ spaces
Website Princes Quay shopping centre

Princes Quay is a shopping centre in the heart of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The centre is unusual in that it is built on stilts over Prince's Dock after which it is named. It was opened in 1991.

Description

To take advantage of its location the shopping centre is constructed with large windows giving visitors panoramic views of the Hull Marina and the dock. The centre also builds its image on a nautical theme, for example by callings its retail floors decks.

The centre, built round a central atrium, opened to the public on 15 March 1991 and consisted of 3 decks of over 80 retail outlets. The centre includes a Food Court on the lowest deck, known as Harbour Deck. A fourth floor, known as Top Deck, was converted from retail units in 2007 into a 10-screen cinema by Vue with Europe's first digital screen.

Prince's Quay Shopping Centre built over Prince's Dock

A 1,000 place multi-storey car park[1] is integrated with the centre and is accessed from the main A63 when travelling eastbound into the city. Princes Quay is well served by public transport with many bus routes stopping immediately outside the centre and with Hull Paragon Interchange only a few minutes' walk away.[2] In February 2011 a plan to revamp the food court into several new casual dining restaurants, overlooking the dock commenced and has seen the return of Pizza express to the city and has also seen Nandos open a second outlet in the city centre. The restaurants are already proving popular and add to the already increasing vibrancy of Princes Dock Street. Other major restaurant operators such as Wagamama are rumoured to be taking a place in the new food quarter.

Quay West expansion project

In December 2006, outline planning permission was granted for the western expansion of the centre. The £300 million retail development, known as Quay West, would add 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2) of shopping space, 60 shops and two department stores. It would also feature cafés and restaurants and a leisure complex comprising a health and sports club as well as a 175-bedroom hotel. The site was earmarked to open in 2011 and it was thought the development would inject an extra £42.66 million per year into the local economy.[3] The project was cancelled in October 2010 due to a change in ownership, the economic downturn and cuts to regeneration projects.[4]

Trivia

Since 1996, the Hull International Canoe Polo tournament has been held every July on the waters surrounding the shopping centre. One of the local teams, 'Humbersiders', have always been prominent and have been crowned champions on three occasions.

References

  1. "About Princes Quay". Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Hull. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  2. "Getting Here". Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Hull. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  3. "Princes Quay blow for shoppers as £200 million extension cancelled". Hull Daily Mail. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princes Quay.