Brent Cross Shopping Centre
 Inside shopping centre | |
 | |
| Location | Barnet, UK |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1976 |
| Owner | Hammerson and Standard Life |
| Architect | BDP |
| Total retail floor area | 74,320 m2 on opening[1] |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in Fenwick, John Lewis & M&S) |
| Parking | 8000 |
| Website | www.brentcross.co.uk |
The Brent Cross Shopping Centre is a retail facility at Brent Cross in North London.
History
When Brent Cross Shopping Centre opened in 1976 it was the third shopping centre of its type in the UK after the Bullring in Birmingham (1964) and the Haymarket Shopping Centre in Leicester (1973).[2]
On 14 December 1991, four explosive devices were planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The bombs were discovered and defused before they could have been detonated.[3]
On 6 November 2012, six people on three motorbikes entered the shopping centre and smashed in the windows at jewellers Fraser Hart. An estimated £2m worth of jewellery was stolen.[4]
The car park of the shopping centre was used as a filming location for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.[5]
The shopping centre is featured in Ken MacLeod's science-fiction novel The Star Fraction. The action takes place in a balkanized UK, in the middle of the 21st century, and the ruins of the shopping center are used as a local market for the anarchist enclave of Norlonto ('North London Town').[6]
Future Developments
Brent Cross shopping centre is planned to be extended as a part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development scheme. The John Lewis and Fenwick Department stores will remain in their current location, Marks & Spencer will move to a new location on the extended site, the bus station will be relocated, and new parks, a "living bridge" and a cinema are planned, along with new multi-story car parks (with the existing open air car parks used for the shopping centre extension). Outline planning permission was achieved in 2010, preparatory site clearance started in early 2018, with construction expected to start in 2018.
References
- ^ "Shopping Centres". Museum of London. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "View of shopping centre, 1977". London Transport Museum. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "IRA bomb causes chaos for commuters". Herald Scotland. 17 December 1991. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ Armed robbers on motorbikes raid Brent Cross jeweller BBC News. 6 November 2012 Retrieved 6 November 2012
- ^ "19 top secret Bond locations around Britain". The Telegraph. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "The Star Fraction". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 26 November 2017.