Westquay facts for kids
View of Westquay, showing Westquay North (left), the newer Westquay South (centre), and the Southampton Old Town Walls (right)
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| Location | Southampton, United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 50°54′12″N 1°24′25″W / 50.90327°N 1.40692°W |
| Opening date | 28 September 2000 |
| Developer | Chapman Taylor & Partners |
| Management | Hammerson |
| Owner | Hammerson and GIC |
| No. of stores and services | 126 active (including Westquay South) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (including Westquay South) |
| Total retail floor area | 93,500 m2 (1,006,000 sq ft) |
| No. of floors | 6 in Westquay North, 7 in Westquay South |
| Parking | Yes, 1 Podium, 1 Multi Storey |
Westquay is a large shopping centre located in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has a huge area of about 93,500 square metres. This space is filled with shops and fun places to visit. You can find around 130 different stores inside. Some of the well-known shops include John Lewis and Partners, Marks and Spencer, Zara, and Apple.
Westquay is right in the middle of Southampton city centre. It's also very close to the docks. You can enter the centre from different streets. These include Above Bar Street, Portland Terrace, and Harbour Parade. There's also a large car park built right into the centre. Building Westquay started in 1997. It officially opened its doors on September 28, 2000.
The building uses a special heating system. It gets its heat from geothermal energy. This means it uses heat from deep underground. A central plant takes heat from an aquifer (an underground water source). Then, it sends this heat to buildings in the city centre. This system is called a district heating scheme.
Over the years, some shops have changed. The John Lewis store replaced an older local department store. Marks & Spencer also moved into a bigger space. In 2009, the first Hollister store outside of London opened here. This was a big deal for Westquay. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Westquay closed for a while. This was the first time it had closed, other than for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.
Building Westquay: How It Was Made
Westquay was built on a very large piece of land. This land used to have old factory buildings and office towers. The whole area is about a quarter of a mile long. Workers started tearing down the old buildings in September 1997. The new Westquay shopping centre opened three years later.
The building project was quite complex. It had to cross over three main roads. One part of the centre, a two-storey glass walkway, weighs 400 tonnes. It crosses over Portland Terrace. Another road, Western Esplanade, was cut in half by the centre. A footbridge connects the centre to a car park over Harbour Parade.
The ground level changes a lot across the site. It goes up and down by about 4.5 metres. The main shopping area inside is 400 metres long. The roof lights that let in sunshine are about 350 metres long. There are 32 lifts throughout the building. Building the steel frame for Westquay was a huge job. It took 20 weeks just to design and make the steel. Thirteen tall cranes worked on the site. The tallest crane was 66 metres high.
Westquay South: The New Extension
In the late 2000s, the owners of Westquay planned a big new extension. It was first called Watermark WestQuay. The plans for this new part were shown to the public in 2012. The city council approved the plans in 2013.
In 2014, detailed designs for the first part were approved. This new section was then called WestQuay Watermark. Building work started in January 2015. The first phase of this new area includes a large cinema with 10 screens. This cinema is run by Showcase Cinemas. There is also a bowling alley from Hollywood Bowl.
The extension also has twenty-one different restaurants. Some of these include Wahaca, Zizzi, Five Guys, and Nando's. There is also a big public space outside. The first restaurants opened on December 8, 2016. These included CAU, The Real Greek, and Franco Manca.
When the first restaurants opened, WestQuay Watermark was renamed Westquay South. The Showcase Cinema de Lux opened on February 10, 2017. It is located on the fourth level of Westquay South.
Images for kids
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Westquay in 2002
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Inside Westquay in 2005
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Stairs inside Westquay in 2005
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Shopping area in Westquay in 2007
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Westquay South in January 2017
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Westquay South in 2018
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