John Lewis opens its door after Mace completes fit out

Mace started work on the site in February 2016, and has been responsible for delivering more than 250,000 sq ft of retail space for John Lewis across five trading floors.

Excellent communication was essential between the project team, the brands taking space in the shop and the local community. Mace worked collaboratively with its professional team to design and price the scheme, incorporating a number of changes and delivering the best solution at all times.

The scheme consists of five sales floors, two basement levels and a rooftop area. There were a series of phased handovers during the 30-week programme, the most significant being at 22 weeks when Mace handed over space to the shop fitters to continue fitting out the different concession stores within John Lewis.

Mace also installed the staircase which is based on a large scale feature wall made up of panels that have been pulled out to create a cantilevered staircase. The panels are finished in different materials and also provide areas for integrated feature lighting and graphic images.

The scheme delivered up to 1,000 retail and hospitality jobs, 550 of which were from John Lewis, and 1,000 construction employment opportunities.

Neil Hennessy, Regional Director at Mace, said: “It’s been a pleasure working with John Lewis to fit out its first flagship store in Leeds. Our extensive experience in the retail sector has helped us to work in collaboration with John Lewis to deliver the client’s vision for the store.