Construction complete at Westfield Stratford
Published: 11 May, 2011
Westfield Stratford City - the 1.9m sq ft, retail, leisure and business destination and gateway to the Olympic Park – has completed the construction phase on budget and on schedule.
This gives its retailers and other occupiers a 6-month period to fit out ahead of the scheme’s opening in September.
Work to clear the site for the scheme started in 2008, with original discussions to build on the site going back to 1998 – way before London was granted the 2012 Olympic Games.
The development includes 14,000 structural piles, 350,000 cubic metres of concrete for the foundations, 44,000 tonnes of steelwork and 800 metres of external trading frontages.
Seventy-nine per cent of space is already committed, with the remaining space in advanced negotiations with retailers and operators.
Keith Whitmore, director of design and construction at Westfield, and in charge of the design and build of Westfield Stratford City, said: “We are delighted to deliver the base build on time and on budget. We have applied Westfield’s unique range and breadth of expertise and talent right across the Stratford City project, and our construction team can be truly proud of their achievement. We are now in a great position to present stores to retailers, to capture the momentum into launch this September, and of course towards the Olympics next year.”
The construction of Westfield Stratford City has to date employed nearly 21,000 people with nearly 30 per cent from the East London area which is even greater than first estimated. Between 25,000 and 27,000 people are expected to have been employed by the time the centre opens on 13th September this year.
The construction and development cost for Stratford City is £1.45bn with construction work all undertaken by Westfield’s own construction team.
