Westfield London

Location	London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England
Opening date	30 October 2008 9am GMT
Owner	Westfield Group
No. of stores and services	270
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	1,614,600 ft² (150,000m²)
Parking	4500
No. of floors	5
Website	uk.westfield.com/london

Westfield London is a shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The centre was developed by the Westfield Group, run by Frank Lowy, at a cost of £1.6bn,^[1][2] on a site bounded by the West Cross Route (A3220), the Westway (A40) and Wood Lane (A219), and opened on 30 October 2008.^[3]

The site is part of the White City district, where several other large scale development projects are under way or in the planning stages. The development is on a large brownfield site which was once the location of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition; the initial site clearance demolished the final set of halls still remaining from the exhibition.

The centre is noted for its size: with a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²), the equivalent of about 30 football pitches. It is said to be London’s largest shopping centre (overtaking the Centrale in Croydon), the fourth largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom (behind MetroCentre, Central Milton Keynes and Bluewater), and the largest urban area indoor shopping centre in the European Union (as distinct from out-of-town centres).^[3]

The nearest London Underground stations are Wood Lane, White City, Shepherd's Bush and Shepherd's Bush Market.

The nearest London Overground station is Shepherd's Bush. This station is also served by longer distance Southern services between Milton Keynes Central and East Croydon.

[edit] Construction

The development was built by Westfield Construction, the developer's own construction arm and was delivered on schedule.^[4] Robert Bird Group were the structural engineers for the job and were responsible for the iconic roof design. The project took five years to build, employing 8000 people.^[5]

[edit] Retail area

Interior of Westfield, London

The centre opened to the public on 30 October 2008 and has a retail floor area of 150,000m² (1.615m ft²).^[1] The completed centre features around 255 stores, including All Saints, Apple, Bershka, Boots, Bose, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Coast, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Dwell, French Connection, Geox, Gerry Weber, Habitat, Hackett, HMV, Hollister Co., House of Fraser, Jaeger, Kurt Geiger, Mamas & Papas, Mango, Marks & Spencer, Mulberry, Next, Nomination, Reiss, River Island, Topshop, Uniqlo, the multiplex cinema Vue (opening at the beginning of 2010), Waitrose and Zara.

'The Village' at Westfield Shopping Centre.

An unusual aspect of the development is the new high-end retail area called The Village. Building on experience in attracting high-end retailers to its Australian malls, developer Westfield attracted black label brands unheard of in the London shopping mall market. These include Burberry, De Beers, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Mulberry, and Tiffany & Co - arguably establishing The Village at Westfield London as London's third biggest luxury retailing centre after the West End and Knightsbridge retail destinations.^{[original research?][citation needed]}

[edit] Transport connections

The Westfield centre opening coincided with the completion of several major London transport infrastructure projects which now serve the centre and the surrounding area:^[6]

• London Underground: two Underground stations serve the centre - Wood Lane station (Hammersmith and City Line) on the western side and the rebuilt Shepherd's Bush station (Central Line). There are also two other stations close by; White City and Shepherd's Bush Market.

• London Overground/Southern: Shepherd's Bush railway station is a new station which has been constructed on the West London Line and opened on 28 September 2008. It is located on the southern side of the development, immediately next to the Central Line tube station.
  The opening of the station was delayed by several months when the finished platform was found to be 18 inches narrower than the required width.^[7][8]

• Bus and taxi: the Shepherd's Bush Interchange is located to the south of the centre next to the Overground station and includes a bus station and a taxi rank.^[9]
  Close to Wood Lane tube station is the White City Interchange on Ariel Way; the bus station here is housed in the redeveloped Dimco Buildings (1898), Grade II listed red brick buildings which were originally built in 1898 as a shed for a London Underground power station.^[10][11] The Dimco buildings were used as a filming location for the ‘Acme Factory’ in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?^[12]
• Cycle routes: the development includes some new cycle routes, but advocates consider them woefully inadequate^[13]
• Road links: a grade-separated junction connects to the West Cross Route (A3220) which runs alongside the development site.

Northern Interchange	Northern Interchange (set-down)	Southern Interchange
Wood Lane tube station	Shepherds Bush tube station	Shepherds Bush rail station

[edit] Criticism

The arrival of such a substantial new development however has not been without criticism. The full impact Westfield London will have is not yet understood but it is anticipated that the mall will attract trade which otherwise might have gone to the West End and may have a strong negative impact on nearby Kensington High Street.^[14] The development has also pushed up rents in the Shepherds Bush area which is expected to impact on the value retail offer in the area with many businesses as well as the Shepherds Bush Market expected to suffer.^[15] Others have criticised the mall's "clone stores".^[15]

[edit] See also

• List of shopping centres in the United Kingdom
• Westfield Stratford City - another similar development in London

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Westfield London

• Westfield London Official Website
• White City Development leaflet (Transport for London, August 2007)
• "New White City travel connections" (Transport for London, September 2008)

Coordinates: 51°30′27″N 0°13′16″W / 51.5075°N 0.22111°W / 51.5075; -0.22111

• White City & Shepherd's Bush description and map of transport developments