Telford Shopping Centre's southern quarter gets the go ahead

The project is the first phase of the multi-million It will see five or six restaurants and cafés totalling 26,500 sq ft built on the site of the former FOCUS store, nicknamed the ‘Green Shed’, which has already been demolished in anticipation. Work on the Southern Quarter could start as early as Spring 2015.

Following hot on the heels of the opening of the new cinema and popular restaurants at Southwater, the Southern Quarter will further enhance Telford’s food & beverage offer and provide a vibrant link between the new ASDA store, Southwater and the shopping centre.

The cafés and restaurants will be housed in a contemporary new building, designed by Benoy, which features an elegant curved façade and a striking ‘gateway’ tower facing Brown Elm car park. The new building will create a strong sense of arrival to the revitalised town centre. At the same time, a newly paved area with extensive landscaping will provide space for outdoor seating.

The Southern Quarter is the first part of the five-year masterplan to transform Telford Shopping Centre, which is being masterminded by Sovereign Land. Plans include up to 400,000 sq ft of new retail, 250,000 sq ft of restaurants, cafés, bars and other leisure uses. Overall the plans could increase the 1m sq ft centre by as much as 80%.

Tim Binnington, Chairman of Sovereign Land, said:

“The Southern Quarter will meet demand for more restaurant and café space, which has already been demonstrated by the huge success of Southwater. We are in discussion with a number of potential occupiers for the units. Now that we have planning consent, we can start to formalise these negotiations and we hope to be able to confirm names soon.

“We’re delighted to have been granted permission for this exciting development, as it marks first part of our plans to revitalise the whole of Telford Shopping Centre.”