REGENERATION plans for Festival Place shopping centre are under way with the modernisation of St John’s Square by architects Leonard Design.

The modernisation is due to be completed by October 2017, with the three-phase scheme including the update of the tenant shop facades in the square, the re-design of the grand entrance to Festival Place, and the hard-landscaping of all external areas.

The first phase is already under way in St John’s Square with the removal of existing kiosks to create a clear line of sight across the square from The Malls to Festival Place, the modernisation of shop fronts to Poundland and Vision Express, and the hardlandscaping of the public realm including new up-lighting and curved landscaping.

John Morgan, director at Leonard Design, said: “Working with AEW, we saw the huge potential in St John’s Square and we really wanted to create the feel of an openair town square. AEW wanted to create modern, high-quality shop fronts and facades, set in a vibrant public space. All of this has been achieved while the tenants have continued to trade.

“This type of regeneration is logistically tricky as the majority of work is being carried out at night to avoid disruption to tenants during trading hours but phase one is on course to be completed before the end of the year.”

Festival Place was bought by AEW, a European real estate and asset investment manager a year ago. This autumn, AEW announced their plans to rejuvenate the centre and add more stores to the retailer line-up.