By Aimee Chanthadavong
With the first stages of Westfield Sydney due to be revealed in just over month, Retailbiz chatted with Julia Clarke, Westfield Australia manager of corporate affairs, about the specs of the new space.
The retail precinct will encompass 40,000 square metres of gross lettable area, which on completion in 2012 will mean the centre will house over 250 fashion food and lifestyle stores.
According to Clarke, the redevelopment will create a world-class retail, tourism and office location in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.
“It will reinvigorate Sydney shopping, bring an icon back to Sydney and put Sydney retail back on the map in line with other fashion capital cities around the world,” she said.
“Westfield Sydney joins other global flagship destinations in the Group’s portfolio, in Bondi Junction, Doncaster, San Francisco and London.”
Stores to open in stage one in October will include, Hugo Boss, Stuart Weitzman, new-to-market brands GAP, Mulberry, and DKNY Jeans, together with a host of Australian retailers including Cue, Sportsgirl, Wanted Shoes and designers such as Zimmerman and Carla Zampatti.
Westfield group managing director Australia & New Zealand Robert Jordan said: “Westfield Sydney will become the benchmark for downtown shopping malls in Australia. We’re developing a global centre that will offer the very best in retail, design, and services and we believe the centre will position Sydney as an international shopping destination.”
Openings in 2011 will see the unveiling of further high street and designer stores, including Prada, Miu Miu and of course Zara. Westfield Sydney will also launch 100 Squared, a fashion incubator concept allowing clusters of young designers to have a pop-up retail space on level one.
“Westfield Sydney has brought in new brands to market as well as help existing brands in the market find a true retail flagship representation,” Clarke said.
Westfield has engaged with internationally renowned Tokyo-based interior design company Wonderwall for the Westfield Sydney development. Previous Wonderwall projects include the Collette store in Paris and Uniqlo stores worldwide. The external building’s design and commercial tower has been undertaken by Melbourne firm John Wardle Architects, following an international design competition.