Retail owner is intu structural steelwork

Structural steelwork has emerged as the framing material of choice for leading UK owner and manager of regional shopping centres intu.

The company’s latest steel-framed development is the Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham, where a detailed planning application has just been submitted to the City Council. The transformation of Broadmarsh is one of several major projects that make extensive use of steel either currently under construction or where planning has been applied for by intu.

A spokesman for intu said the Broadmarsh development will use structural steelwork for architectural features at the entrances and to create a new cinema complex.

The company said the works will deliver a vibrant new southern gateway from Nottingham main line train station, with improved pedestrian routes through the shopping centre and easier connections to the city and surrounding streets.

The development will bring new retail brands, restaurants and leisure activities, creating a more contemporary shopping centre. Proposals include creating an increased range of places to eat, from grab-and-go to sit-down restaurants, and a multi-screen cinema giving additional reasons for customers to visit more often and stay for longer.

Regional Director of intu Martin Breeden, said: “Nottingham has always been a top 10 retail city but, in the last couple of years, it’s really had the sense of a place on the way up. There’s the massive extension to the tram system, improvements to the railway station, increasing amounts of urban living and new independent stores and restaurants popping up.”

Last week intu unveiled plans for a redevelopment of its Milton Keynes shopping centre. The works will include a new steel-framed five-screen cinema and a dining quarter spread over two floor levels.

Structural steelwork is currently being erected to enlarge the intu Potteries shopping centre in Stoke-on-Trent. Here main contractor Wates is constructing a 5,500m² extension that will include a nine-screen Cineworld complex, five restaurants and a pedestrian boulevard.