Southside Wandsworth - Overview

Overview

Southside opened in 1971 as the Wandsworth Arndale Centre, and was the largest of the UK-wide chain of Arndale Centres with 110 shops. It occupies much of the centre of Wandsworth, with five blocks of flats, a small office block and extensive car parking on the roof, and the River Wandle running in a tunnel underneath. It initially included a mix of shops, offices and restaurants, as well as a large hall for market traders, although the latter has since been redeveloped. At one point it also housed a large nightclub, which has since closed.

The centre suffered a notable decline in the 1980s and 1990s, before being extensively renovated and relaunched with a significantly more upmarket mix of shops.

The shopping centre is anchored by a Waitrose supermarket, and large branches of TK Maxx, New Look, H&M and Primark. A large adjacent branch of Sainsbury's - part of a separate development - also acts as an anchor. The upper level contains several mainly fast food restaurants and a 14-screen Cineworld cinema. There is also a Virgin Active gym.

With 530,000 square feet (49,000 m2) of retail space, Southside remains one of London's largest shopping centres in terms of its ground floor square footage, and currently attracts around 8.5 million visitors a year. Redevelopment of the northern and eastern sections of the centre is continuing, with a £75 million project underway involving the demolition of office accommodation and the creation of a further 220,000 square feet (20,000 m2) of retail space including a new 81,880 square feet (7,607 m2) Debenhams department store, and 33,000 square feet (3,100 m2) of restaurants (including Wagamama and Cattle Grid). The residential parts of the centre has also been partly redeveloped, with construction of a new 23-storey block of flats above the centre completed in 2006.