Spindles Town Square, a shopping centre in Oldham town, England, will be transformed to consolidate retail space and add new uses to increase footfall.
Oldham Council acquired the shopping centre in October 2020. It unveiled plans for the shopping centre’s redevelopment in July 2021, following consultation with local residents, businesses, and market traders.
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The redevelopment work at Spindles Town Square is expected to commence during late 2022, and be completed by the end of 2023. The project is expected to generate approximately 800 full-time jobs, upon completion.
Spindles Town Square location and background
Spindles Town Square is located at the Management Suite, Unit 50, George Street, in Oldham. It can be reached using the Metrolink tram to the King Street or Central stops.
National Express Service busses have a stop at the Central Bus Station on Cheapside, near the shopping centre.
Situated on a 2.63ha (6.49-acre) site, the Spindles Town Square shopping centre comprises a total retail area of 450,000ft² (41,806m²).
The site consists of two adjoining shopping centres, namely Town Square, and Spindles. Town Square was the first to be built in 1981, followed by Spindles in 1991.
Spindles Town Square redevelopment details
The shopping centre needs to diversify its retail and market offering to drive sustainable growth, according to the council. The project plan is to redevelop the entire centre and add new uses, such as offices, leisure, and entertainment options, in order to attract more footfalls.
The redevelopment project aims to decrease the retail space, reduce vacancy, and free-up poorly let spaces at the mall for alternative purposes.
The important components of the redevelopment include the creation of 1,160m² (12,486ft²) of gross internal area (GIA) for archive storage, 4,649m² (50,041ft²) for markets, 3,108m² (33,454ft²) for events and conferences, and 7,039m² (75,767ft²) for offices.
The project will involve 4,703m² (50,622.67ft²) of new build area and 11,253m² (121,126ft²) of repurposed/converted area.
The Tommyfield Market, a local market that offers a wide range of fresh and local food stalls and artisan shops, is proposed to be relocated from its present location at Henshaw Street as part of the project.
It will extend between Town Square and Parliament Square. The former TJ Hughes store will be demolished to facilitate the development of the new market.
The downstairs of the Spindles centre will be the main shopping hub. It will be linked to Town Square and lead to the new Tommyfield Market.
The upper floor of Spindles will be repurposed into a flexible co-working office space.
Oldham Council will occupy space adjacent to the co-working space and potentially extend to the third floor.
The planned archive store within one of Spindles Town Square mall’s multi-storey car park levels is expected to house Oldham’s artefacts and museum archives.
New Tommyfield Market details
Entry to the market will be from inside the mall. The mall level will feature a retail market and other services. A food court will be built downstairs from the mall level, which will be linked to Parliament Square. The food court will include a wide variety of food and beverage options.
Two flexible spaces will be created at the new market for different uses including pop-up stores, live cooking demos, small exhibitions, family activities, and other market events.
A dedicated split-level venue for events is expected to be built above the new market hall. Providing rooftop views of the borough, it is proposed to be used for both private and public events such as weddings, live performances, conferences, and festivals.
The new market and the event spaces will be located at one end of the building, which will allow them to operate late night even if the remaining areas of Spindles Town Square are closed.
Retail and dining options at the shopping centre
Retail stores within the mall include B&M, H.Samuel, Clarks, Beauty Zone, Daniel Christian Menswear, Beaverbrooks, Select, Blue Inc, The Works, Boots UK, Card Factory, EE, O2, Vodafone, Bodycare, Claire’s, and Clintons Cards.
Spindles Town Square also houses The Fragrance Shop, Dazzlin Perfection, Gems, The Body Shop, Hays Travel, JD Sports, The Perfume Shop, Mays, Betfred, Mobiles4U, Three, Sky, WHSmith Post Office, Trespass, Pandora, Next, River Island, and Shoe Zone.
Financial services institutions operating at the complex include The Co-operative Bank, Santander, Lloyds Bank, and NM Money.
Food and beverage (F&B) stores available within the shopping centre include Costa Coffee, Greggs, Holland & Barrett, Rhode Island Coffee, Rollers Café, and Subway.
Amenities
Some of the amenities within the mall include baby changing facilities, toilets, and cash dispensing machines. Manual wheelchairs can be accessed from the security area to support the needs of persons with disabilities.
The total number of existing parking spaces within the Spindles Town Square shopping centre is 1,335. The plan includes the creation of 100 bicycle spaces, which is expected to reduce the number of parking spaces to 1,268.
Contractors involved
Aew Architects, a firm based in England, was selected for the architectural design of the project. It prepared the design and access statement, including the landscape strategy.
Willmott Dixon, a construction and property services firm based in the UK, was engaged as the main contractor for the Spindles Town Square redevelopment project.
CBRE, a commercial real estate services and investment company, prepared the planning statement for the project.
Orion Heritage conducted the archaeological assessment and prepared the heritage statement, while BWB conducted an air quality assessment.
WSP, an engineering professional services company, was engaged to prepare the energy and utilities statements, as well as ventilation, extraction, and odour statement.
Vectos prepared the servicing and waste management plan, transport statement, and framework travel plan.
Hive Projects was contracted to prepare the construction management plan. Other consultants that were appointed to prepare documents supporting the planning application included IGE Consulting, Tyler Grange, Design for Security, PDA Acoustic Consultants, and Ekosgen.
