John Lewis Shopping Centre and Cineplex, Leicester – Riba Award 2009

Housing a shopping centre and a cinema-complex, the building fits in the rehabilitation framework of the inner city of Leicester, providing new context for the conventional facework of institutions with similar functions as well as connecting them to the entirety of the city. The exterior surfaces of the shopping centre reveal a concept of a net-system made up by double enamelled facade components with a design resembling a lace curtain. This way the isolatedness of the interiors remains intact, whilst natural light can enter the building and the interior spatial structure of the shopping centre turns into convertible without affecting its outward appearance.

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Architect: Foreign Office Architects

Structure: Adams Kara Taylor

Main contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine

M & E, fire services: WSP Group

QS & Project Management: Cyril Sweett

Traffic: Waterman Burrow Crocker

Client: Shires GP Limited, Hammerson plc./ Hermes plc.