Swindon’s Regent Circus opens this week

The final part of Swindon’s steel framed £16.6M Regent Circus scheme is set to open this Friday [6 February] when the six-screen Cineworld throws open its doors to the public.

Anchored by a 4,600m² Morrisons store, which opened last October, the Regent Circus development occupies a former town centre college campus site and also includes eight smaller retail outlets, a 450 space three level car park, as well as the cinema.

Structural steelwork has played a major role in the scheme as all of the buildings are formed from two large interconnected steel frames. Hambleton Steel working on behalf of main contractor ISG erected a total of 1,900t of steel for the project.

The Morrisons supermarket is a 60m long x 63m wide portal frame designed as a three span braced structure with added moment frames to reduce the weight and size of the main steel members.

The store features a one span wide internal mezzanine level along one elevation while a distinctive curving roof, formed from faceted steelwork, tops the building.

Unlike the supermarket the second frame consists of a number of floor levels, ground floor being the lowest level of the car park, level one accommodating a covered internal retail street and the second car park level, and the third floor again accommodating car parking as well as the main part of the cinema complex.

The six screen cinema complex features a double height upper level to accommodate the individual theatres and the raking seating terraces. A series of plate girders, up to 16m long, form the cinema’s clear column free areas.