Westgate gains outline planning

Oxford City Council’s West Area Planning Committee has resolved to grant outline planning permission for Westgate Oxford Alliance’s £500m major redevelopment of the Westgate Centre and adjacent land. The Alliance, a JV between The Crown Estate and Land Securities, has spent four years preparing the plans and undertaking extensive consultation.

The application is based on a masterplan for the development prepared by BDP which has been progressed over the previous four years.

Peter Coleman, Head of retail at BDP, says: “This is excellent news for the city of Oxford and we look forward to developing detailed designs. Our masterplan ties together a group of individual building blocks with a cross weave of covered and naturally ventilated public spaces, arcades and lanes leading to a new John Lewis department store. The new centre will form a two level retail development with a third level of restaurants and leisure uses overlooking the roofscape of Oxford’s spires.”

The design will be progressed and led by BDP with a carefully selected team of architects, also including; Allies and Morrison, Dixon Jones, Glenn Howells Architects and Panter Hudspith, designing the individual blocks and elements.