Although billed as an extension to the Golden Square shopping centre - built in 1979 and now showing its age - the project is to all intents and purposes a new shopping centre.

The original scheme provided 310,000 sq ft of retail space, and was one of the few to be built without a department store anchor. Now Lend Lease is adding 346,000 sq ft, including 115,000 sq ft for Debenhams in what will be Warrington's first full-line department store.

Lend Lease owns the centre in partnership with Legal & General and Arlington Property Investors. According to development manager Damian Lewis Lend Lease aims to exploit the synergies between its asset management and development arms and with its construction subsidiary Bovis Lend Lease.

The result is a remarkably quick development period: enabling works to divert the utilities from under the site began in December 2004, and the main contract, beginning with demolition of the old Legh Street car park, kicked off in February 2005.

"95 per cent of the procurement is now complete," Lewis says. And with the site virtually weathertight the chances of any late slippage in the tight schedule are diminishing.

Innovative construction methods have helped achieve this. With the exception of the Debenhams store, which is traditional in-situ reinforced concrete, the centre has been constructed using assymetric steel beams infilled with concrete planks.

Apart from the speed of erection, the biggest benefit of this method is apparent in the car parks, which have flat soffits that offer improved lighting levels and a cleaner appearance.

On completion in March 2007, the new space will bring retailing in Warrington into the 21st century, and by giving the town critical retail mass it will significantly increase the catchment population. Lewis expects the target audience to grow from the current 800,000 to 1.4 million.

Warrington sits between Manchester and Liverpool, so denting their retail trade would be a tall order, but the marketing strategy for Golden Square will focus on stretching its catchment to the north and south, taking in towns as far away as Bury and Northwich.

"There are a number of towns in the area that only have limited retail offers," he says. "Manchester or Liverpool are a full day out from here, so we're aiming to position Golden Square as a convenience offer," explains marketing manager Ian Cox.

With opening only a matter of months away, construction is well advanced, with the floor finishes already going down on parts of the new malls.

The key lettings are already in place, with H&M, Topshop, River Island, Next, Sports World and Boots taking MSUs. Other recent lettings include Republic, Office, La Senza, Bank, 3 Store and Jane Norman.

Leasing manager Rachel Broughton says the centre is currently 73 per cent let or in solicitors' hands, with other deals at the heads of terms stage.

"Retailers are beginning to move more quickly," she says. "They can now understand what we're trying to do for Warrington."

Broughton concedes that incentives are an inevitable part of the leasing game at the moment, but she refuses to be drawn on quoting terms. All she says is: "We're looking to drive rents on from levels in the existing centre. We're providing bigger, more efficient units." The current rental tone in the original Golden Square is thought to be just short of £140 zone A.

The extension creates a new shopping circuit, with wide and lofty malls that will form a dramatic contrast to the older space. The new malls are mostly naturally-lit, with the exception of the sections that sit beneath the three-level multi-storey car park. And the centre will be naturally ventilated.

In all, there will be 1,700 car spaces in the extended centre: roughly 1,300 above the malls and the remainder in a separate basement car park.

In parallel with the new construction, the existing malls are being refurbished. The floors are being replaced with striking black and terracotta tiling, to match the finishes in the new section, and the old barrel-vaulted glass roof is being replaced with a more modern design that will increase natural light levels. The entrances to the centre are also being replaced.

"The refurb is the biggest headache," says Lewis. "All the work is being done at night, and the flooring is scheduled to be complete by the end of November to give the retailers a clear run at Christmas." But perhaps the most dramatic manifestation of the changes afoot at Golden Square is the new bus terminus, which leads directly into the centre. The state-of-the-art facility owes more to airport design than a traditional bus station, and even though it was developed under a separate contract by the passenger transport authority, Lend Lease is taking responsibility for the facilities management to ensure that it is complementary to the shopping centre.

But opening day next spring will not be the end of the Golden Square story. Plans are being drawn up to turn the square surrounding Warrington's historic fish market, which forms the centre's covered events space, into a focal point for catering uses.

A number of retailers in this area, including Next, will be relocating into the extension and this has created the opportunity to create four large restaurant units, which will be able to offer outdoor seating in the fish market.

Opening of this phase is not expected until summer 2007. But already Lend Lease can see the end in sight at Golden Square, and attention within the company is turning towards the next wave of projects, beginning with the 50,000-sq ft events space at Bluewater.

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