Cyril Sweett is costs consultant on new John Lewis Portsmouth store

Main contractor Centros Miller has revealed the proposed design for the new John Lewis department store building that will form the main retail attraction for the £350m northern quarter development in Portsmouth city centre. Consultant Cyril Sweett has been appointed costs consultant on the scheme.

Centros Miller’s development director John Marsh, said: “The new John Lewis store will anchor the northern quarter development both commercially and geographically to form a tremendous landmark building for Portsmouth city centre.”

The 230,000 sq ft store will form a focal point at the northern end of the city centre’s current shopping area. It will trade on four floors and stock John Lewis’s full range of merchandise.

Architect Chapman Taylor has created an interlocking square and triangle plan, integrating the traditional trading-floor shape of department stores and breaking out with an organic triangle. These shapes have function as well as add excitement to the look and feel of the store.

Partly located on the site of the former Tricorn Shopping Centre, the northern quarter is a mixed-use scheme being developed by Centros Miller in partnership with Portsmouth City Council.
To create a complementary variety of architecture across the 1,000,000 sq ft northern quarter scheme, Centros Miller has separate architects working on each of the main elements – with Chapman Taylor as the lead architect.

The anticipated completion of the whole development is autumn 2010.