Ikea to develop new London store
Hillingdon development on brownfield site
Ikea plans to develop a new London store, on a brownfield site in Hillingdon.
The furniture retailer will submit a planning application to the London Borough of Hillingdon within the next two weeks for the proposed store on a former crane works next to Hillingdon Underground Station and off the A40.
The store will be Ikea’s first UK town centre location, with previous developments having been in retail parks and edge-of-town sites.
The plan includes the development of a multi storey mixed use concept. Ikea UK property manager Scott Cordrey said: “The concept will be very different to anything we have built before in the Ikea world. This will be a bench mark for retailers in the M25 area both in flexibility and environmental measures.
The 20,000sq m, three level store will also include a restaurant and ancillary uses. Ikea said: “We are proposing a high quality innovative design which includes a number of advances in sustainable development technologies.”
The scheme incorporates sustainable design initiatives including natural lighting, thermal piling, combined heat and power, rainwater recover, green roofs, green walls, a wind turbine and other renewable energy sources.
Included will be 240 residential units, with 117 of priced to support the Mayor’s target for affordable housing in London. The aim is to make the store accessible by public transport, private car, cycle and foot. The development will include a new entrance for Hillingdon Underground Station. The store will employ aroundy 500 people.
The planned store is only 15km away from the world’s busiest Ikea in Brent Park, with Ikea hoping to cut queues and reduce traffic both on the A40 and the Brent Park store.
The company said: “This is consistent with our strategy to bring Ikea closer to our wide spread customer base, reducing travel time and taking trading pressure off our 13 existing stores in the UK.” At least 10 stores are planned across the the UK over the next three years.
