Southside Wandsworth - History

History

The site now occupied by the shopping centre was previously the Wandsworth Greyhound Stadium (which seated 20,000) and the Upper Mill (a large flour mill, damaged by fire in the 1920s and demolished in 1964). The Arndale complex was designed to be relatively self contained, with few connections to the surrounding shopping streets other than service and delivery entrances, and value of the complex was maximised by the construction of five high-rise blocks above the main shopping area, and by building over a thousand parking spaces in multistorey car parks and on the roof. It included a health clinic and a day centre, as well as a post office. Because it was built right over the River Wandle, it was considered something of an architectural and engineering achievement. However it was not universally popular, and its large size led to it being described by some contemporary commentators as "one of London’s great architectural disasters".

Although initially successful (helped by being located at the junction of several major roads including the A3), it steadily drifted downmarket in the decades after its construction, which led to the departure of its original anchor tenants such as Sainsbury's (who later returned to the area, but in an adjacent building) and Tesco. This, coupled with increasing competition from nearby centres such as Clapham Junction, Wimbledon and Putney, led to a severe decline in the fortunes of the centre - at one stage it was said that the centre had seen the influx of so many downmarket shops that "it's become hard to buy anything at the centre for over £1".

However Wandsworth was by the 1990s seeing extensive gentrification, and it was clear that the centre was in a particularly strategic location, with a large and prosperous ABC1 population on the centre's doorstep - many of whom were choosing to shop further away. To be successful a complete relaunch would be needed.

Work therefore began to extensively refurbish and extend the complex in 2000. This included the complete demolition and reconstruction of the southern end of the structure, to add a new 957-space multistorey car park, a 14 screen Cineworld cinema, and a Food court. A large Waitrose supermarket was also built, to anchor the relaunched centre. Skylights were introduced in the main malls to make better use of natural light (a common, but now outdated' feature of Arndale centres had been that the walkways were deliberately kept dark, so that the lights from the shops would shine out).

This redevelopment was accompanied by construction of a 23-storey residential development at the southern end of the complex by Barratt Developments, and refurbishment of the existing towers on the roof of the main shopping area. The name of the centre was temporarily from Wandsworth Arndale Centre to the Wandsworth Shopping Centre, before finally being branded as Southside in 2004.