page_title: Bluewater (shopping centre)
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Bluewater (shopping centre) / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: 'Thames Walk', Bluewater Shopping Centre, Dartford, Kent.
context_page_description: Bluewater Shopping Centre is an out-of-town shopping centre in Stone, Kent, England, outside the M25 Orbital motorway, 17.8 miles east south-east of London's centre. Opened on 16 March 1999 in a former chalk quarry after ten years of building works, the site including car parks occupies 240 acres and has a sales floor area of 154,000 m² over three levels, making it the fifth-largest shopping centre in the UK. Elsewhere in Europe only Istanbul's Cevahir Mall and Vienna's Shopping City Süd are bigger. The floor plan is a triangular shape with 330 stores, including 3 anchors, 40 cafés and restaurants, and a 17-screen cinema. The centre employs 7,000 people and serves over 27 million visitors a year. A main rival is the Lakeside Shopping Centre and its two retail parks by road 8 miles away in West Thurrock, Essex, just across the River Thames or 3.2 miles point-to-point.
  It is owned by four major UK institutions, Prudential plc and PRUPIM, Land Securities, the Lend Lease Retail Partnership and Hermes.
context_section_description: The principal architect was Eric Kuhne. Other firms involved in the design and branding were Benoy, BDG McColl, RTKO, Henrion Ludlow & Schmidt and Minale Tattersfield.
  The main building is a triangle of three malls: Thames Walk, Guildhall and Rose Gallery, with one anchor store at each corner. Curved and tapered glass sections form the roofing over each mall, providing significant natural lighting. The roof vents are inspired by Kentish oast houses.
  There are statues of historic trades along the walls above the upper level.
caption: Bluewater "Thames Walk"
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