100


6


7


6. One of the complex's streets, looking towards Marks & Spencers 7. The distinctive mesh cylinder of Westfield's car park


and a car-parking entrance fronting onto the railway line. A definite rear to the building, the eastern flank is similarly impenetrable to the pedestrian at street level, except where the mall announces its main entrance on two levels, canopied by a flying first-floor bridge. The drawbridge is permanently down to Stratford and a steady stream of people flows across the Corten link bridge that spans Stratford regional rail station to the front of the older local Stratford Centre.


This entrance is the location of one key anchor store, Marks & Spencer, which is disengaged from the main mall body to create an external forecourt and open-air shopping route at upper-ground level. The second principal anchor is the John Lewis department store, again articulated as a full stop at the western end of the covered arcade yet designed to address the street on the remaining three sides. Architecturally, mall language is that of airports – and other 'non-places' commented on by Marc Augé – punctuated by store branding. Yet subtle differentiation of treatment along its length helps to≈define and characterise, and this is complemented by place-naming and touch-screen information panels. Just as the internal walkway curves to orient directionally, so too its gradient changes; a gradual descent announces one's arrival at Waitrose (nestled under John Lewis on the storeys above) in a move presumably designed to accommodate the more substantial supermarket floor-to-ceiling height. Toward its middle, the central spine opens out to a fast-food court at lower-ground level; The Gallery, with its World Food Court, is located on levels above. This is the main entertainment hub of the complex, with chain restaurants, food outlets, a viewing platform to the Olympic site, and access to the casino, cinema and bowling lanes. From here a route extends south-west at ground level to link into the external shopping streets named The Street, Four


Dials, Cherry Park Lane and Chestnut Plaza. As well as providing an alternative passage between the two anchor stores, this network connects to the Olympic Park Stratford Gate entrance and gives access to a double deck of car parking concealed below.


Car parking is significantly reduced with 5,000 ticketed spaces for 176,500m2


of retail and leisure


space. Access to a projected catchment population of 4.1 million is maintained through an integrated transport system with three adjacent rail networks and a new tube-station booking hall and bus station incorporated into the mall building envelope. A multi-level parking tower to the west expresses the urban credentials of the development. Visually, the external streets are a jostling assemblage of parts favouring retail branding rather than any overarching architectural language; an exception is the street landscaping and furniture. Surface treatment is modulated inside and out, and external paving extends into the interior emphasising the key intersections of mall and street.


The extent to which Westfield Stratford City becomes part of the urban continuum remains to be seen. We can only await with interest for the proposed additions to the urban layout and mix, with Lend Lease’s adjacent The International Quarter of offices and homes phased for development after the conclusion of the Games.


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