Brent Cross Shopping Centre

Inside the centre

Fenwick's end exterior

Brent Cross Shopping Centre was built by Hammerson and opened on 2 March 1976.[5] It was the country's first out-of-town and American-style indoor shopping centre in the country, with its construction taking 19 years to complete at a cost of £20 million.[6] The scheme was strongly supported by the local authority of Barnet, but strongly opposed by local traders in Hendon.[7] The centre started out with 800,000 sq ft (74,320 m²) of retail space[8] on a 52 acres (21 ha) site.[9]

Upon opening, Brent Cross had 75 stores and was open until late every weekday despite the mid-1970s UK recession.[10]

On 14 December 1991, four explosive devices were planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The bombs were discovered and defused before they could be detonated.[11]

By the 1990s, the centre was facing increasing competition from other large out-of-town shopping centres in the region, such as the Lakeside Shopping Centre. In 1994 work started to extend the centre which was completed by 1996, giving it capacity for 120 stores[10] as well as a new multi-storey car park replacing the older one, adding 2,000 extra spaces. Also the low ceiling inside was replaced by glass to let more natural light in.[9]

On 6 November 2012, six people on three motorbikes entered the shopping centre and smashed in the windows at jewellers Fraser Hart. An estimated £2 million worth of jewellery was stolen.[12]

Brent Cross shopping centre is planned to be extended as a part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration scheme. The John Lewis and Fenwick Department stores will remain in their current location, Marks & Spencer will move to a new location on the extended site, the bus station will be relocated, and new parks, a "living bridge" across the North Circular Road and a cinema are planned, along with new multi-storey car parks (with the existing surface carparks to be used for the shopping centre extension). Outline planning permission was achieved in 2010, and preparatory site clearance started in early 2018. Construction had been expected to start in 2018,[13] but is now delayed until 2019.[14]

Entrance to the shopping centre at the John Lewis end

Upon its recession-era opening in 1976, Brent Cross was praised by the public bringing a bold American-style concept to Britain. A local newspaper called the centre a "fururistic concept", and its features such as the indoor fountain and air conditioning were noted. Richard Hyman, a retail analyst, said that Brent Cross's significance "can't be overstated. Before Brent Cross there was nothing like it."[15]

Brent Cross was unusual at the time in that it was build on an undeveloped site rather than in a traditional town centre. The centre was built on a "concrete island" surrounded by the Brent Cross flyovers and the busy North Circular Road, but the centre's offering inside is what drew customers to it. The New Society magazine wrote about the centre in 1978:[7]

The massive and featureless rectangles of the Brent Cross Shopping Centre... come as no surprise. They are just as hideous as everything else. But step through the doors and here is prettiness and femininity - just as soulless and just as commercialised as the filth outside, but a veritable perfumed nirvana.

Brent Cross quickly became a popular attraction for people in London and the South East, and a blueprint for shopping centres across Europe. Despite its age and dated appearance,[16] it has remained a popular retail centre ever since.[17] It was ranked as London's 5th largest retail centre in 2005, behind the West End, Croydon, Kingston upon Thames and Bromley.[18] In 2013 it was reported that it received 14 million visitors a year.[19] It was ranked the UK's 9th best shopping centre in 2019 by GlobalData.[20]

The original three department stores when Brent Cross opened - Fenwick, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer - remain at the site.[17] The former two have anchored the shopping centre since the beginning.[21]

Row of buses at Brent Cross bus station

The nearest train stations are Brent Cross tube station and Hendon Central tube station on the Northern line. The shopping centre is surrounded by a "concrete jungle" of trunk roads typical from the time it was built.[22] As a result pedestrian access to and from the shopping centre complex has been deemed "hostile" in modern times.[23] As part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration scheme, a new Brent Cross West Thameslink station will be built and opened in the early 2020s,[24] and the environment will be improved for pedestrians. The Brent Cross bus station is adjacent to the shopping centre and is served by 14 different day bus routes with links throughout North London and to West London, the West End, and Hertfordshire.[25]

The interior of the shopping centre was featured in the 1994 film London by Patrick Keiller.[26] It shows the former large fountain and stained glass on the roof, which were removed in 1996.[27]

The carpark of the shopping centre was used as a filming location for the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.[28]

The shopping centre was also featured in Ken MacLeod's science-fiction novel The Star Fraction. The action takes place in a balkanized UK, in the middle of the 21st century, and the ruins of the shopping centre are used as a local market for the anarchist enclave of Norlonto ('North London Town').[29]

• Bull Ring, Birmingham
• Whitgift Centre
• Lakeside Shopping Centre
• Bluewater
• Westfield London

• Brent Cross shopping centre