Westgate
Client: Westgate Oxford Alliance
Location: Oxford, UK
Design Team: BDP, Gillespies, Fitch, Modus Operandi, Laing O’Rouke, Chapman Taylor
Size: 76,000m²
Status: Completed
Westgate, anchored by John Lewis, 125 new shops, cinema and a panoramic F&B roof terrace, takes the form not of a singular destination but a network of open-air urban spaces knitted together through lanes, arcades and public squares. The space melts into both the urban fabric and diverse lifestyle of Oxford.
f.r.a. created a design language that combines traditional street furniture and design-forward retail trends. The sign products convey the warmth of bronze and copper through the use of liquid metal coatings. The results transformed the complicated connections between the site’s various nodes, car park and public transport links into a legible experience that make sense in the context of the city.
Our collaborative approach was evident throughout the project; helping guide the scheme through sensitive planning negotiations, extensive prototyping and providing ‘last-man-out’ project management services to ensure the design was delivered even after the main project management team was off-site.
