Retail
Shoppers’ beacon
22 NSC
March 18
A new name, new shops, new
restaurants and a new cinema,
it is all change for Eastbourne
town centre’s leading shopping
destination.
An £85M extension to the existing
Arndale shopping mall is currently under
construction and it will provide 22 new retail
units, seven restaurants and an eight-screen
cinema. Once complete, the new enlarged
centre will be renamed The Beacon, a
name that conjures up images of the town’s
coastal history and the nearby Beachy Head
Lighthouse.
Andrew Rice, Fund Manager for the
centre owners Legal & General says it is
never easy to find a new name for a shopping
centre with a 38-year history.
“After discussions and explorations,
including meetings with key opinion formers
in Eastbourne, we agreed unanimously that
The Beacon was a great new name.”
According to tp Bennett Project Architect
Julie Heron, the nautical idea from the name
has been carried over into the design of the
extension.
“We have long, curved bulkheads that run
either side of the mall, while the elevation
opposite the railway station culminates
into a ship’s nose feature element that
accommodates an entrance to one of the
anchor stores.”
Aside from these unique design
features, the entire 16,200m2 extension is
being constructed as a steel frame, which
is partially divided in two by a covered
L-shaped pedestrianised street. Officially
described as an outdoor space, the street will
however offer some weather protection as it
will be topped with a glazed undulating roof,
supported by the main steel frame.
Cutting across the site, approximately at
the point where the L-shaped street cranks,
a movement joint splits the steel frame
into two separate parts via a row of double
columns.
To stabilise the large steel frame, a hybrid
stability solution has been used throughout
the scheme, according to Caunton
Engineering Project Designer Gavin Christie,
“The client wanted the flexibility so that
tenants could knock down partition walls
in the future if stores needed to be enlarged,
and so this meant cross bracing could not be
located within internal walls.
“Instead we developed a hybrid stability
system consisting of full-height shop front
moment frames, working alongside bracing,
which is positioned in staircases and backof
house areas.”
Overall the extension consists of two
lower levels, with retail units located at
ground floor and restaurants accommodated
at first floor. Towards the centre of the
extension there are two further upper floors,
a second floor housing the cinema’s eight
screens, and a third floor accommodating
the projection rooms.
The cinema levels straddle the street, with
two second floor footbridges spanning the
pedestrian thoroughfare.
The project’s two anchors stores, Next and
H&M, differ from the other retail units as
they have two trading floors with their upper
levels accessed via internal staircases and
elevators.
“Designing a retail mall with a cinema
above means there is very little repetition
within the frame’s structural grid, as many of
the retail units and all of the cinema screens
are different sizes,” says Mr Christie.
With numerous locations having column
A nautical themed shopping centre extension is set to
reinvigorate Eastbourne town centre. Martin Cooper reports.
FACT FILE
The Beacon,
Eastbourne
Main client:
Legal & General
Architect: tp Bennett
Main contractor: Kier
Structural engineer:
Clarke Bond
Steelwork contractor:
Caunton Engineering
Steel tonnage: 2,000t
How Eastbourne’s
redeveloped town
centre will look
/Leisure_buildings#Theatres_and_auditoria
/Retail_buildings#Shopping_centres
/Design
/Braced_frames
/Retail_buildings#Flexibility
/Braced_frames#Vertical_bracing
/Concept_design#Structural_options_for_stability
/Continuous_frames
/Design_of_steel_footbridges
/Concept_design#Floor_grids