A great, white, temple of consumerism rising from the humdrum suburbs of Shepherds Bush, Westfield London opened its doors at the end of October 2008 to crowds of shoppers with a defiant two fingers at the financial crisis enveloping the UK and global economy. Conceived and built in the boom for £16 billion, Europe’s biggest indoor shopping centre has been criticised as a folly to the over-confidence of developers and retailers as property prices and personal spending were crashing around them. But eight months on, Westfield, the company behind the 43-acre complex, insists that – despite the recession – footfall and trading are strong and Westfield London is on target for 20 million visitors in its first year. The handful of vacant units have been filling fast with Deichmann, Bebe Bisou, Foot Asylum, Wheels of Sport and Birings retailers, all setting up shop in the past few weeks.
Hype aside, Westfield London certainly lives up to its promise of providing a new experience for shoppers and an opportunity for retail designers to stretch their imaginations. In many ways, the mall’s design concept is conventional – albeit on a larger scale than any of its rivals. The shopping area comprises two tiers connected by escalators, plus a restaurant mezzanine, on top of a three-storey underground car park. The more than 300 retail units are designed around a rectangular “street plan” which is intersected by a football pitch-sized atrium. Four anchor brands – Debenhams, House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer and Next – occupy the corners of both floors, with a Waitrose also at street level.
However, it is its details, dimensions, architectural grandeur and adventurous retail mix that sets this shopping centre apart from any other. The centre of the building is covered by a large, undulating glass roof which provides a “spectacular play of light throughout the day”, said the company. Certainly, for an indoor shopping centre, it felt more naturally-lit on a bright March afternoon than most. The marble-floored atrium has 8m high shop fronts, displaying fascias – including clothes store Hollister (complete with bouncer on the door to regulate the queue of eager young shoppers) – that seem inspired by Disneyland or Las Vegas, and Timberland has taken its name literally with a frontage criss-crossed with giant spars of pine wood.
Westfield London will in addition offer a 14-screen cinema, a gym and spa, and a community library that are all due to open this year. The development also claims to be taking in-centre catering to a new level with almost 50 outlets, including a selection of ethnic and speciality restaurants on the lounge-style atrium balcony where food is cooked in front of customers, and an outdoor terrace of eating places flanked by a 150m greenery and water feature.
One of the most innovative aspects of the large shopping centre is an area called the Village. Designed by architects Gabellini Sheppard, it houses around 40 upmarket boutiques over two floors, including Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Versace. Many of the brands, said Westfield, have never traded in a UK shopping centre previously. Three more Italian labels – Pal Zileri, Fratelli Rossetti and Frette – opened outlets in March. With its luxurious bathrooms, sweeping staircase, Searcy’s champagne bar and cascading chandeliers, the Village is pitched at a high-net-worth clientele more likely to inhabit London’s New Bond Street or Harrods than everyday shopping malls.
However, high street brands such as Topshop, Habitat, H&M, The Body Shop and Gap predominate at Westfield London and the centre’s emphasis on easing the stress from shopping applies to its regular customers too. From the taxi lounge for laden shoppers and indicators that point drivers to parking spots, to the helpful greeters handing out maps and offering directions, and from the plentiful and pristine loos to the welcoming refuges of comfy leather armchairs, Westfield has clearly made a hit-list of what most irritates first-time visitors to a shopping mall and tried to tackle them. For those who want it, valet parking, “hands-free” shopping and home delivery are all available.
However, it is not perfect. Like all indoor shopping complexes, the atmosphere after a few hours can feel airless and dehydrating, and the mostly artificial light jarring. Although the grid-like layout is logical and straightforward, the sheer scale of Westfield London can make it disorientating and daunting. The generous proportions give retailers plenty to play with when it comes to using their shop windows to full effect, but, once inside, many stores unsurprisingly look much like their high street counterparts with many retailers choosing to use the space to pack in more stock rather than experiment with layout and design.
Centres such as Westfield London are also criticised for sucking the lifeblood out of surrounding high streets – something the company is countering with a spend of £170m on improving local public transport, a commitment to invest £4m in reviving the rundown Shepherds Bush Green and £2m towards funding round the clock policing in the neighbourhood. Local shops are also being invited to take part in a shopfront improvement scheme. Westfield director of corporate affairs, Simon Holberton, said anecdotal evidence shows that “retail in the area is benefiting from the increased footfall generated as a result of Westfield London.”
These are small and inevitable criticisms. Retail is a competitive market and consumers will always be attracted by better shopping environments and wider choice. Westfield London raises the bar for the decades-old concept of the large UK shopping destination in terms of its sheer size and innovative touches.
Although headlines report a mounting economic crisis, most shops appear to be crowded with tills ringing regularly. However, expectations among tenants who committed to the development a year or more ago would have been high and the recession may be causing them to revise downwards their original annual revenue and profit projections. But their substantial investments in Westfield London are for the long-run and when the economy begins to pick up, they should be in a better position than many to enjoy the fruits of resurgent consumer spending.