Work starts on £9m Next Home and Garden in Southampton

Next is opening a £9m Home and Garden Centre at Hedge End in Southampton. The store, which is due to open next spring, is being created by The Midas Group, one of the UK’s largest independent construction companies.

The major design project involves a dramatic three-storey retail store built primarily from German-sourced Dura stone and glass panelling.

The finished store will have a floorspace of 8,310sq m and incorporate a clothes shop, homeware store, garden centre and café spread out over three floors with an internal mezzanine level.

Paul Strachan, Southern divisional director for Midas Construction, said: “This is a fantastic development for Southampton, and Midas is delighted to be creating such a dramatic store for people living locally to enjoy using, which will also enhance the environment.

“The materials being used externally such as the glass, masonry and German-soured stone are of a very high quality, and mean there is a very impressive feel to the entire development.”

The project also involves car parking and an access road being created by Midas, and is part of a wider plan to redevelop the old Wildern Mill site adjacent to the Hedge End Retail Park, which includes a separate contract for 41 new homes developed by Linden Homes.

The Midas Group, which provides construction and property services across the South West, won the contract to design and build the Next store, as well as fitting it out internally, after successfully bidding against five other firms.

The Midas Construction side of the company is leading the building work before the Midas Retail division manages the shop fit-out.

The project employs a number of eco-friendly new technologies, including large solar panels fitted to the roof, and crushed materials from the demolition of the old Wildren Mill buildings on the site have also been used in part of the construction to ensure building materials were reused and recycled wherever possible.

The Next store is expected to be completed by April 2014. The Midas Group has already been invited to look at another Next Home and Garden Centre being created in High Wycombe in summer 2014.

Source : Fiona Briggs – Retail Times
http://retailtimes.co.uk/next-to-open-9m-three-storey-home-and-garden-centre-in-southampton-in-2014/