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Westfield Stratford City will be the gateway to the Olympic Park for London 2012
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Billed as the gateway to the Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford City will offer over 300 retail units and 50 restaurants to the hundreds of thousands of people destined to flock to this part of east London in the summer of 2012. It’s not all about the Olympics though – the project was in the pipeline before London won the bid – the development is expected to significantly boost the regeneration of this previously neglected part of the capital, providing up to 18,000 permanent jobs (as well as the 25,000 construction jobs).
The 1.9 million sq ft development will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe and includes family favourites suck as Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and John Lewis, as well as as a Premier Inn and a Vue cinema. Westfield is proud of its environmental initiatives and believes the scheme will set a new benchmark for urban retail-led development, such as the use of a consolidated waste management system which aims to recycle or recover 50% of retail waste.
The site features a combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) plant, which will supply chilled water, heating and power to all parts of the development from a local source – far more efficient than using conventional supplies. Stratford City will deliver carbon savings by supplying up to 75% of all its electrical power in this way, in addition to the efficiencies already achieved through the building design.
Visitors to the centre will even create power themselves, as the site features paving slabs that generate electricity from the kinetic energy produced when walked upon, which is then used to provide lighting. In addition, the site has been designed to make the most use of natural light, combining this with effective insulation and low-energy lighting and controlling solar gain to ensure the buildings are at least 10% more energy efficient than required by Building Regulations.
Many of the development’s roofs will be designated as ecological brown roofs to encourage wildlife and reduce rainwater run-off and a 253,000 sq ft rainwater harvesting system will be incorporated into the main retail centre.
Social sustainability is also a key concern for the developer, who has been active in the local community, initiating and participating in various local projects. A retail academy has been created in Newham, with the task of sourcing and training up to 2,000 employees for the shopping centre from the surrounding boroughs.
Project statistics
- 1.9m sq ft retail and leisure destination
- The largest urban shopping centre in Europe, with 300 shops and 50 restaurants
- Gateway to London's Olympic Park
- Anchored by a 240,000 sq ft John Lewis department store, a 32,000 sq ft Waitrose supermarket, and a 200,000 sq ft Marks & Spencer
- 5,000 dedicated shopper parking spaces
- A three-level mall and contemporary external streetscape
- 4.1m catchment population, with a £3.24bn weighted spend (Source: CACI 2009)
- Stratford City and the Olympic Park together span over 700 acres, and account for one of the largest urban regeneration projects ever undertaken in the UK
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