Marks & Spencer Food Store, Derby

We successfully reimagined and reinforced the strong visual and emotional link for the public, in form and detailing to Derby's former railway heritage as a key consideration in the design. We honoured the silhouette of the decayed remains of the 1873 built workshop, which mostly disappeared (due in part to a fire in the 1980s), with the necessary updating to contemporary and efficient materials required of today’s modern buildings.

Our Landscape Architecture team delivered a playful design with numerous heritage hints for our client and importantly, the wider community, including a contemporary interpretation of railway tracks within the footways leading to the store and a sustainable planting perimeter with wildflowers and shrubs to encourage biodiversity.

We carefully balanced M&S’s detailed spatial requirements for servicing, goods areas and the other practicalities of a functioning retail store, with the aesthetic challenges of replacing a once historic part of the skyline with a modern, fit-for-purpose building.  

Over six years in the making, we achieved the right market balance and addressed sensitivities around a once locally cherished site for our client.

The Derby Civic Society recognised the completed building design and awarded a commendation in their annual 'best new building of 2022' awards.