News 01•16
The Flower Market Will Now Move in January 2017
The Flower Market will now be moving to its new home on our Main Entrance Site in January 2017, not in October 2016 as previously scheduled.
A number of our tenants told us they were worried that a move in October was too close to Christmas. Also, we have been told that Thames Water may need to carry out some works on the Main Entrance Site, which could delay the construction completion date. To be absolutely certain that we don’t move any closer to Christmas, we have decided to delay the move to January 2017. We will now be moving over the weekend 7-8 January 2017, ready to open for trading on Monday 9 January 2017.
Works have already begun to build the brand new Flower Market next to our current Main Entrance. Hoardings are going up, with construction starting in earnest in February.
Over the course of this year you’ll be receiving lots of information from us about the move and the ins and outs of the new Flower Market. We’ll make sure you know exactly what’s going on and how the new market works.
We’ll be hosting previews for traders and customers before we open, as well as being on hand, before and after the move, to help make it a smooth, easy and exciting one. Come 9 January 2017 you’ll be ready to buy and sell beautiful flowers in a modern and fresh environment. In a better home for flowers in the heart of London.
The new Flower Market will be on our Main Entrance Site from January 2017 until autumn 2022, when it will move to its permanent home at the front of the new market.
Looking Forward to an Exciting Year
If 2015 is the year we started, 2016 is the year things really get going.
This month, we began the construction works for our new Entrance Plaza, which moves south of the railway, ready to open later in the summer.
2016 marks the final year the Flower Market will be in its current form. We’re now working towards an exciting move to a brand new, better Flower Market in January 2017.
The Pavilion demolition, which is well underway and due to finish in April, will make way for the construction of a new hub for food businesses in London and a place to exchange ideas, commerce and knowledge. The grand opening of which will be in summer 2017.
In the same location, and at the same time, we’ll start building our Interim Distribution Units. These will house a few of our distributor tenants from summer 2017 till 2022, to help with our phased build and move programme.
Back to 2016, this summer will see several grand openings of its own; the openings of the new Recycling & Waste Compound, the new Consolidation Zone, and the new Football Pitches.
We’re also continuing with the second phase of the refurbishment of the Multi-Storey Car Park, set to finish in May, as well as progressing with the infrastructure and road works across the site.
It’s a busy year. It’s an exciting year. And this doesn’t capture everything. There’s an awful lot going on and, as always, we’ll keep you regularly updated every month.
Construction Programme
Here is the current Construction Programme for the next few months. As with any project of this size, all dates are inicative and are subject to change. As we get nearer to the start date we will be able to confirm timings with more certainty.
The start date refers to the date that area is handed over to the contractor and is not the date significant works might start as, often, prepatory works are needed before demolition or construction can begin.
Other Works on Site
The Pavilion Demolition
The first phase of The Pavilion demolition has gone very well and if you pass the building you’ll see the first half has already been carefully demolished. The demolition of the remaining half is due to start in March, to finish in April.
Sprinkler Tanks
Sitting on top of The Pavilion, towering over the market, is our current Sprinkler Tank. This is set to come down along with the remaining half of The Pavilion in March. We have been creating a Temporary Sprinkler Tank in Units A49-52, which will feed the market’s sprinkler system until our new Sprinkler Tank is ready later this summer. The new Sprinkler Tank will sit behind the Multi-Storey Car Park and next to our new Recycling & Waste Compound.
We will be switching over to the Temporary Sprinkler Tank in March. Closer to the date, we’ll let you know what day we’ll be making the switch as well as more information about this change. During and after the switch we’ll be carefully monitoring the sprinkler system looking out for and dealing with any issues that may arise.
Electrical Substations
We are continuing works to build our new, permanent, Electrical Substation in the south corner of the market, due to finish in March, as well as our Temporary Electrical Substation, located on the southern Perimeter Road near to The Pavilion, due to finish in March.
To allow for the demolition of the rest of The Pavilion, where the current substation is located, we will be switching power to the Temporary Electrical Substation from the end of February.
We will let you know nearer the time exactly what the switch involves and what impact it will have on each tenant. We are not able to switch the power without some outages, but we will do everything we can to keep these to a minimum and we’ll make sure everyone knows when and how it might affect them.
Once they are both up and running, the two new substations will together power the current and new market buildings until the end of the build, when we will only require our one, permanent, powerful, Electrical Substation.