Interview: Keith Whitmore
UK director of design and construction Westfield
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Following construction of the £350 million Westfield development in Derby and the £1.7 billion flagship mall that opened in White City, west London in October 2008, the design and construction team at Westfield was
then charged with delivering a £1.4 5 billion follow- up scheme in Stratford, east London. The 1.25 million m2
site which lies adjacent to the Olympic park,
was scheduled for completion by September 2011. ‘Procuring and delivering projects of this nature, in such short time frames and during a period of intense construction activity next to the Olympic Park, is a real challenge,’ says Keith Whitmore, UK director of design and construction at Westfield. ‘Our strategy was to split up the larger, specialist subcontracts into manageable sizes, reducing our dependency on a single subcontractor and the overall risk of the project.’ The construction of the shell and cores for the anchor stores were completed at the end of 2010, and the main building, shell and core was completed in February 2011, six months in advance of the centre opening. Whitmore explains that the demands of retailers are increasing: ‘Retailers want to be able to modify both the shell design and the shop front. While this is key to the delivery of the Westfield experience – bringing new retail concepts and first-to-market stores – it does mean that we need to have the construction completed well in advance. ‘It was a tough discipline to get the team to think so far ahead, but it was vital for the success of the project,’ says Whitmore. ‘We had a team of executives who would walk every inch of the scheme on Saturday mornings, including the corporate,
leasing, design and construction teams. It is this dedication and attention to detail that delivers the product and the Westfield brand – without it so many things would go unresolved. We aren’t about long meetings and lengthy minutes – I get the team out on site to look at and resolve the issues.’ Alongside delivering the iconic retail scheme,
Westfield completed £250 million of infrastructure for the Olympic Delivery Authority comprising roads, bridges, tunnels and stations. ‘We also delivered a 36,500m² office block and three hotels built for external clients on podiums created from the retail development,’ Whitmore adds. Having comfortably met the opening deadline
in September 2012, Westfield Stratford was fully commissioned and ready to receive the 150,000 people who would arrive on the opening day and the 800,000 people per week that followed. Whitmore explains that the team then had to focus on preparing for the huge activity the Olympics would bring: ‘We built corporate hospitality pavilions for 2012 sponsors, removed and ‘de-cluttered’ while coordinating with LOCOG to ensure that the seven million people who pass through the development during the games will all be able to get to and from the transport hubs safely – hopefully via the shopping centre. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for retailers and will be a hugely exciting time.’ But there is still plenty to do at Stratford
City, he explains, including the development of additional mixed-use schemes. These will include 1,200 homes, 65,000m² of offices and 36,5000m² of leisure space. Whitmore is already looking ahead to Westfield’s development pipeline, which includes plans for delivering a global business strategy of the best buildings in the best markets.
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