The Lexicon is a retail and leisure complex located in

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. It was part of a wider regeneration project in the town, which saw a third of its centre demolished. The Lexicon was then constructed on the site and opened in 2017. At the time of opening, it had 70 stores, restaurants, and a cinema. It was visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 2018.

Background

In 2010, a development received planning permission for the redevelopment of

's town centre. The concept would regenerate part of the city centre and focus on

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

and

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...

. Plans for the wider regeneration of Bracknell had been discussed for around a decade before the development broke ground in 2012. The development would see a third of

's town centre demolished due to its brutalist architecture. The Lexicon was a 50:50 joint venture between Legal & General Capital and Schroder UK Real Estate Fund. They collaborated with

Bracknell Forest Council Bracknell Forest Council, also known as Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the local authority of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county an ...

to develop the masterplan. While under construction, the development was given the name "The Lexicon" in 2015. In 2017, the redevelopment of Bracknell town centre was completed and The Lexicon opened on 7 September. The regeneration project cost a total of £240 million. Upon completion, the new shopping district in Bracknell covered more than one million sq ft, with 70 new shops and restaurants and a cinema. Shortly after its one-year anniversary, The Lexicon hosted

when she visited Bracknell to witness what was referred to as "one of the biggest town centre regenerations in the UK." In 2019, a second phase of the project began. A total of £30 million was secured for the redesign of Princes Square and the regeneration started in the same year.

Retail and leisure

When The Lexicon opened in 2017, it announced a number of notable tenants. The Avenue hosted two anchor tenants,

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

and Fenwick. Other retailers included Joules, Fat Face, Superdry, Office, Next, H&M, River Island, Timberland, Paperchase, The Body Shop, Topshop, and Primark.

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

also chose to open a store at The Lexicon in 2017. The hospitality and leisure part of the development would include a 12-screen

Cineworld Cineworld Group plc is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,518 screens across 790 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Irela ...

, with restaurants including

Nandos Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual restaurant, fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo ...

Wagamama Wagamama (stylised as ''wagamama'') is a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine. History The first Wagamama was opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese rest ...

, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and

Carluccio's Carluccio's is an Italian restaurant chain founded in London in 1999. In 1991, Antonio Carluccio and his then wife opened an Italian food shop, named Carluccio's. In 1999, the first "Carluccio's Caffè" was opened in Market Place, London. Th ...

Location & transport

The development is located in the town centre of

. Bracknell was one of the UK's

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

s launched in the 1950s. The town is located between the M4 and M3 motorways, and around from

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. The regeneration led to a purpose-built car park that would hold up to 4,000 cars. Other transport improvements were also made to the area.

Future plans

The 2017 opening of The Lexicon marked the second phase of Bracknell's regeneration, with further plans to redevelop the town centre. Work is continuing to develop Princess Square and the area around the old Bentalls store, called The Deck.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lexicon Buildings and structures in Berkshire Shopping centres in Berkshire Buildings and structures completed in 2017 2017 establishments in England