This flagship department store for the John Lewis Partnership in Kingston takes inspiration from the spectacular 19th Century department stores such as ‘Le Printemps’ and ‘Bonmarche’.

The site lies on the River Thames, immediately to the north of Kingston Bridge. The building forms a link between the town’s central shopping area and the river and fronts onto the conservation area around All Saints Church.

Our scheme for this important site makes a major contribution to the pedestrianised area of central Kingston. The development extends over and under the relief road to provide a single building creating a powerful link between the pedestrian shopping area and the leisure use of the river frontage.

Our design creates a very large, daylit central space within and around which the department store is planned in the form of terraced sales floors linked by avenues of escalators overlooking the river. This central area is surrounded by smaller structures, clad in brick and relates to the scale of the surrounding streets.