RETAIL

A1 Retail Park, Biggleswade is a retail development extending to appx 250,000 sq.ft. of trading floor space with customer and delivery access, car parking and an improved local highway infrastructure. RGP’s role included design and master planning from initial feasibility schemes through viability appraisals to planning and then tender, working directly for the developer. Following award of contract, RGP worked on detail design and delivery under an appointment novated to the main contractor.

The site of 7 Ha area sits next to the A1(M), south of Biggleswade and was occupied by a range of uses including industrial and retail, much of which had fallen into dilapidation. The key to making this development work was the phasing. The ultimately successful layout had to work in line with a phasing system which allowed the retail part of the site to continue trading while units for their occupancy were being constructed.

The philosophy of the design is to create a pleasant retail environment, with broad covered walkways faced in high quality materials. Building forms have been broken-up to reduce the impact of the massing and the walkway canopies contribute the environmental performance.

The planning and development of the site required extensive negotiations with local residents, tree officers, existing tenants and the local authority themselves. A full public consultation event was held to ensure a transparent informative process for the residents to the north of the site, which resulted in numerous changes and details to create practical service space whilst respecting the amenity of the neighbours.

London Road to the east contained numerous tree preservation orders along its length and the proposal ensured these were incorporated into the landscape strategy and protected during the construction phase. The construction phasing was a key element to successfully deliver the project. It was essential that the existing tenants in the park could continue trading whilst the new construction was under taken and the legal agreements and compulsory purchase orders, combined with the bespoke nature of each unit, required careful consideration and close co-ordination from the whole design team, keeping the client fully informed and protected at all times.

The retailers started to trade in summer 2015 and the final units will open later summer 2016. The park is already very successful, reducing journeys away from the borough and bringing in more visitors to enliven the local economy. The park is very well liked by locals and visitors alike and has drawn strong support from the town council.