Architects Datafile - 11.2019

buildings, providing an architectural

statement. This penetration creates two

forms, sitting next to the listed restaurant.

Both have gable ends, but these are sharply

bisected at their corners, the gables ‘turning

the corner’ into the inner facade, with the

result being unusual and eye-catchingly

playful forms.

This is particularly striking on the

precast-clad unit, its gables “leading the eye

into the entrance,” as well as helping

signpost its presence. “As it turns the corner

your eye does too, it entices you in,” says

Constantinou. At night, this unit, which

houses the eatery TGI Friday’s plus others,

is very distinctive, with LED strip lighting

placed along the front edges of the gables.

Behind the gable forms, the roof spaces

house the copious plant needed to service

the restaurant and spaces within – “always

a bit of a challenge with commercial

buildings,” says Cos. The architects resolved

the need to enclose these steeply-angled

roofs in a pragmatic way that also created

an attractive roofline. Instead of using

traditional terracotta tiles they arranged

long terracotta battens with gaps between

them to facilitate natural ventilation of the

roof space.

Cos Constantinou comments: “We

haven’t used that approach before, it hides

plant but also creates an interesting roof.”

He continues: “The planners were happy;

we took them on a journey with us, and

worked with them closely.” He says it

helped that one of their key criteria was to

create something with human scale on the

high street.

The brick fronted volume completes a

somewhat symmetrical framing of the

entrance, with a similar corner gable,

although only slightly returning past the

corner. It also has a terracotta batten-

constructed roof, but in this case it’s brass

coloured. “Most of the buildings along the

facade have taken the gable design and

represented it in a different way,” says Cos.

A further significant challenge was

integrating a nine screen cinema including

iMax into a two to three storey high street.

Leslie Jones pushed back the cinema

building and used the architecture of the

restaurants to mask the larger mass,

ensuring a more human scale facing

the street.

Interiors

The triangular events space at the heart

of the development is perhaps its most

important gift to the town. Connecting

all of the volumes, it creates a flexible,

year-round resource for the public which

has already been used to stage major

events such as viewings of the Wimbledon

and FA Cup finals, as well as a farmer’s

market. There is moveable seating and

lighting fixtures, and the entrances to the

cinema and bowling overlook this space at

upper level.

Visible from the high street, the

continuous curving canopy above is

constructed of square panels but has gaps

between it and the structure below to allow

natural ventilation. It curves downwards

towards the main entrance, helping to

signal it from within.

The architects wanted to

make the connections

between the existing and

new additions to the centre

“bright and airy,” and they

arrived at a solution to

brighten up the soffits at

ground floor level

40PROJECT REPORT: RETAIL DEVELOPMENTS

WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF NOVEMBER 2019

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