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Bluewater Shopping Centre

Greenhithe, Kent UK

The Bluewater Shopping Centre is an environment of retail excellence and is now recognised as the real alternative to London's West End and an International location.

Located in Kent, Bluewater has changed the face of retailing in the UK and has become the benchmark for quality British retailing winning a multitude of awards.

Developed by Lend Lease, the Bluewater philosophy is simple – to make shopping an enjoyable stress free experience and to treat its customers as guests.

The Bluewater Shopping Centre has been designed to be a day out destination and offers a choice of shopping and dining with more than 330 retailers including 50 restaurants, cafés and bars and extensive leisure activities such as rock climbing, golf, fishing, cycling, boating and cinema.

The architecture at the Bluewater centre is unique for a shopping environment with a distinctive modern style heavily influenced by English Culture Folklore and the Kentish environment. Artists have produced original pieces for Bluewater including sculptures of each of the craftsman of the medieval guilds and quotations from Keats, Kipling and Shakespeare are inscribed on the walls.

The destinations three malls are styled like balconied streets and topped with glass-sided dome roofs which let natural light in. Fresh air is brought into the malls through rotating aluminium vents on the roof, a unique design based on traditional Kent Oasthouse roofs.

Every year 27 million people visit The Bluewater Shopping Centre and the centre consistently trades above the national average in all sectors.

Bluewater has over 50 acres of picturesque parkland with seven lakes and is home to a range of wildlife that includes kingfishers, swans, cygnets, coots, moorhens, mallards and perch. With more than 1 million trees, shrubs and plants, the parklands formal landscaped gardens merge into the natural flora and fauna of the Kent countryside.

Within its first 12 months of trading Bluewater changed the face of retailing in the UK and became the benchmark for quality British retailing, winning a multitude of international awards including a Millennium Product mark.

Bluewater has successfully combined retail and leisure to offer a day out destination. Bluewater's average Guest spends around 3 hours at Bluewater, and 98% of Guests surveyed in exit polls say their visit is highly enjoyable.

The Bluewater Vision

Extensive consumer research resulted in a triangular design to make shopping easier, with a department store at each corner - John Lewis , Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser - connected by three distinct shopping malls, with retailers grouped together to appeal to different customers.

The Guild Hall offers carefully selected classic high fashion retail, together with lifestyle stores and gourmet restaurants and cafés. The Rose Gallery is family focussed with major high street retailers.

The Thames Walk offers high street fashions, cafés and entertainment.

The Bluewater philosophy is simple: to make shopping an enjoyable, stress-free experience, to treat its customers as Guests. Trained Hosts are on hand to give a 'helping hand' with shopping and provide information about where to shop, eat and which facilities are available.

Bluewater's striking architecture and innovative retail design sets it apart from other shopping destinations. Situated in a stunning location among towering 50 metre high cliffs, Bluewater is surrounded by a tranquil landscape of lakes, parkland and trees.

An Information Pack has been assembled with facts and figures on the centre, general information about Bluewater, its history and background details of the thinking behind the architecture and philosophy of Bluewater.