Urban-look Waitrose created at Newbury

A Waitrose supermarket has opened in Newbury on the site of the town's former Southern Electric site.

Designed by local architects Sutton Griffin, the 37,000 sq ft (3,435 sq m) store is part of West Berkshire Council's Newbury 2025 redevelopment scheme.

The building has been created using a palette of materials that are intended to reflect the store's urban context, according to architect Sutton Griffin.

It includes lightweight insulated metal cladding panels integrated with planes of traditional brickwork, while the store windows are defined by a sand and cement render.

Sutton Griffin architect Ian Blake said: 'We were originally working on providing a shell building for Discovery Properties. We were then asked to tailor this for Waitrose.'

The store is physically and visually linked to the town centre's primary retail zone by landscaped pedestrian access.

Shopfitting for the project was carried out by Wates.

Meanwhile, Waitrose has chosen Midas Retail, part of Midas Projects, to convert six former Safeway stores into Waitrose supermarkets.

The stores, which are located at Farnham, Fulham, Wolverhampton, Abergavenny, Hitchin and Barry, represent a third of the 18-strong portfolio that Waitrose purchased from Morrisons in March.

Each refurbishment is expected to take six weeks to complete. Work is starting now with completion anticipated by November. The stores will remain open during the conversion.