Wembley Park

[edit] Introduction

Quintain acquired The SSE Arena (formerly known as Wembley Arena) and the land adjacent to Wembley Stadium in 2002 with the vision of transforming a landscape long shaped by large-scale events into a new kind of urban district for everyday use. The idea was to harness the positives of being close to landmark venues to inspire a development.

Since 2002, designs for Wembley Park have developed around two core concepts:

[edit] Living destination

Building on Wembley’s credentials as a world-class event destination, Quintain is creating a vibrant leisure destination and a new hub for north west London.

The concept has been to transform a traditional events location into an attractive district which Londoners enjoy every day. The more varied retail and leisure experience is also intended to give those attending events a reason to come early and stay late, enjoying the enhanced offering at Wembley Park.

[edit] Destination living

Quintain is also capitalising on the benefits associated with living next to a major destination to make Wembley Park an outstanding place to live. Quintain has revitalised Wembley Park’s public realm, leisure and entertainment offering and excellent transport connections to a quality associated with its world-class venues.

The new residential neighbourhoods are designed to harness these positives and complement the vibrancy of being an event destination with private squares and areas of tranquility.

[edit] Development history

The redevelopment of Wembley Park is the biggest transformation of the area since the the British Empire Exhibition in the 1920s. Quintain began by acquiring the 44 acres of land surrounding the Stadium in 2002. A further 11 acres were added the following year, with. subsequent purchases of two retail parks bringing the total to approximately 85 acres.

[edit] Placemaking

The importance of placemaking Quintain began the ambitious project with a clear focus on placemaking. Unlike many regeneration projects which start with the construction of large-scale residential areas, Quintain’s first actions were a series of robust placemaking strategies, designed to create a strong and thriving destination to anchor the future decades of development.

• Building on a masterplan by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, Quintain responded to the ‘three-station strategy’ by which routes through the development were realigned to enhance the site’s internal and external connectivity.
• Wembley Arena, now renamed The SSE Arena, was refurbished next, and its entrance moved to open onto a new square facing the Stadium in 2006, creating an attractive new public space.
• The Football Association opened the new Stadium in 2007.
• Two apartment buildings, Forum House and Quadrant Court, opened in 2009 and 2010, creating 525 new homes.
• In 2009, Powerleague opened with seven state-of-the-art pitches.
• The success of the development inspired Brent Council to relocate its offices to Wembley Park, creating an award-winning building connecting into Arena Square which opened in 2012.
• The Hilton London Wembley was completed in time for the London 2012 Olympics.
• A 660-bedroom student block opened in time for the 2012-13 academic year.
• London Designer Outlet opened in October 2013 bringing a unique new leisure and retail offering to north west London.
• The site’s gym, Lifestyle Fitness, opened in 2013.
• In 2014 construction started on the next 475 homes at North West Village.
• A new, all-weather children’s playpark in 2014, along with a public event space to support an ongoing events programme including weekly markets, free screenings of Wimbledon and an ice rink at Christmas.

[edit] About Quintain

Quintain is a London development specialist bringing London property and places to life.

The company has a track record identifying opportunities where significant value can be created through the application of investment, development and asset management skills, and over the last 21 years, Quintain has transformed assets across London into places where people want to live, companies want to grow and neighbourhoods can come alive.

Wembley Park is a significant part of Quintain’s work. Working with a wide group of partners, Quintain acts as owner, design manager and estate manager.

[edit] Partners

A significant development like Wembley Park can only be successful with the collective efforts of a wide range of companies and organisations. Quintain’s strategy is to partner with best in class operators in their field. These include: Realm who manage London Designer Outlet; AEG who run and manage The SSE Arena, Hilton London Wembley, the London Borough of Brent and Wembley Stadium (WNSL).

--Wembley Park 18:09, 27 September 2014 (BST)

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Building of the week series.
• Elephant and Castle redevelopment.
• Live event production.
• London 2012 Olympic Stadium.
• Meadowhall expansion plans.
• Millennium Dome.
• Millennium Mills.
• Mixed use development.
• Regeneration.
• Unusual building design of the week.
• Wembley Arena.
• Wembley Stadium.

[edit] External references

• SSE Arena - Official site
• Wembley Park - Official site