If you haven’t seen this already, please take just 2 minutes to watch through. It gives you a really good insight as to how the Westfield’s will fit into Croydon.
Make sure you bookmark this page, there will be a LOT of information coming in direct and I will update this as it comes on through (estimated mid 2015).
All information below has been taken from the official website http://thecroydonpartnership.com/masterplan and it is advised to have a look there too:
THE MASTER PLAN CROYDON PARTNERSHIP CROYDON PARTNERSHIP
Westfield Hammerson
Westfield and Hammerson will redevelop the Whitgift Centre into a new state-of-the-art retail, and leisure centre in Croydon delivering 5,000 new jobs. In addition to key anchor stores, over 300 shops, restaurants and cafes Will bring together a dynamic mix of high street fashion, food and lifestyle brands.
The scheme also benefits from improvements to the public transport infrastructure network which includes major bus, rail and taxi interchange. Whilst, the Croydon Partnership aims to address the issue Of poor connections between the existing retail centres and the surrounding area to provide a cohesive and integrated town centre for the benefit of all local businesses.
The development Will be built to the highest sustainability and environmental standards.
Our proposals:
£1 billion regeneration of the Whitgift Centre. 1.5 million square feet of retail and leisure space including a major department store and a range of shops designed to attract a variety of occupiers including small to medium retailers. Over 5000 permanent local job opportunities for Croydon.
- New leisure facilities with a multi- screen cinema, bowling alley and restaurants.
- New public realm improvements and solutions to the long term road access issues for Wellesley Road. New car parking spaces to make visiting Croydon easier and safer for residents.
- Between 400 — 600 new homes.
THE SITE
THE WHITGIFT CENTRE SITE LIES IN THE HEART OF CROYDON AND IS VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THE WIDER TOWN CENTRE REGENERATION
Why does the Whitgift Centre site need to be redeveloped?
- For many years the Whitgift Centre has suffered a decline through a lack of investment
- The Centre is unattractive to modern retailers and residents resulting in vacant shops.
- The physical layout of the Centre does not meet the needs of modern retailers. Croydon is one of London’s largest boroughs and needs to re-establish itself as a prime retail and leisure destination.
- The Centre currently discourages pedestrian routes and connectivity to the wider town centre.
CROYDON
Why Croydon?
Croydon and its surrounding area has a large and expanding population with many people currently shopping in other locations. A modern redeveloped Whitgift Centre Will attract these people back to Croydon town centre.
- Evidence shows a clear demand from a range of retailers to locate in a modem Croydon including a large department store.
- A successful town centre needs good transport links. Croydon has these and is improving them further with a new East Croydon pedestrian bridge, six new trams and improvements at West Croydon station.
- We have seen from other successful shopping centre schemes developed by both Westfield and Hammerson that a modem retail environment will act as a catalyst to the wider regeneration of an area.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS CROYDON
- Supporting local businesses
- By successfully regenerating the Whitgift Centre site there will be an increase in the number of people and spend in Croydon. This will help to breathe new life into local and independent businesses which have struggled to compete in recent years.
- The new connections through the scheme will help people to explore the wider town centre. Introducing new homes will help sustain and grow the town centre to be a more vibrant location to live and work.
CROYDON PARTNERSHIP
- A redeveloped Whitgift Centre will be the catalyst to regeneration in Croydon and breathe new life and vitality into the town.
- Connecting Croydon A new 24 hour pedestrian link to complete the East/ West link between Wellesley Road and North End With the new train bridge at East Croydon and Wellesley Road crossings.
- Improved connections North/South through the heart of the site to the wider town centre. New public realm throughout the development designed to ensure the town centre is a safer and more attractive place to shop, work and live.
- Enhancing employment
- We will be creating over 5000 permanent job opportunities for local people. Long term career prospects through our dedicated training and employment initiatives that have been successfully piloted at other Westfield and Hammerson centres.
A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Be lean:
- The proposed development is aiming to achieve at least an ‘Excellent’ rating for the commercial spaces and a Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 for the residential units.
- Use of previously built-on land.
- Best practice environmental design, including good daylight, ventilation and acoustics.
- Use of sustainable, energy efficient building techniques to reduce C02 emissions.
- Provision of water efficient WCs, including sanitary supply shut-off and pulsed water metering.
- Energy use monitoring
Be clean:
- Incorporation of low or zero carbon technologies, including a combined cooling heating and power plant and PV panels to further reduce the C02 emissions.
- Future proofing design to link into the proposed Croydon based design heating and energy centre.
- Adhere to sustainable construction site management practices.
- Sourcing timber from reclaimed, reused or responsible sources.
- Implementing a site waste management plan.
Be green:
- Provision Of ecological enhancements such as brown roof and bird boxes.
- Maximization of recycling and implementation of the best practicable environmental options for non-recyclable residual waste.
- Provision of safe bicycle storage space.
- Implementation of a Green Travel Plan.
Green walls.
- Brown/Bio diverse roofs.
- Leisure areas.
Whitgift Foundation are committed to creating a sustainable, high quality, retail led mixed use development with new homes for Croydon. The team is working closely with Croydon Council to deliver a sustainable redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre site. We understand the need to incorporate environmental and engineering options earlier on in the design phase to encourage efficient energy use for the future operation of the scheme.
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