Chorley Market Walk, Chorley
Overview
Eric Wright Construction worked with Chorley Council under the LRPP to design and construct a new 7,000 sq m retail project in the centre of Chorley’s busy market quarter.
The eight-unit development was designed to accommodate a diverse range of tenants including leading high street retailers, food outlets and a six-screen cinema.
An objective for the Chorley Market Walk development was to create a landmark building which will act as a modern gateway into the town’s retail offer.
The scheme created hundreds of local jobs with leading retail tenants and the cinema operator.
Throughout construction, EWC worked closely with Chorley Council and other organisations to ensure that the project maximised work and training opportunities on site for local people.
EWC worked closely with the Council to prepare the town centre for the changes with a new decked car park, the demolition of buildings to create a new single level car park and major public realm improvements to match the new developments with the rest of the town centre.
120 Apprentice weeks created 
230.5 Work opportunity weeks created 
4 Career workshops completed
126 Community hours contributed 
40/50 Considerate Constructors score 
100% Waste recycled
Key Challenges
The site was occupied by a very busy town centre car park and had many other historical uses. This necessitated extensive remediation and the diversion of a large number of main utility services, along with an existing substation.
Extensive highway modifications to the surrounding access roads were put into place in order to form new site entrances and pedestrian zones.
The town centre location restricted vehicle access, requiring careful programming and logistics planning to ensure minimum disruption and safe access. The construction programme was carefully phased to minimise disruption, maximise retained public parking and work around seasonal trading periods.
Added Value
Working with the LRPP framework enabled a truly iterative design process, which was running alongside of open book budget development.
The high level of transparency and coordination facilitated an early start on site. We were able to incorporate tenant fit out requirements into the main contract programme and reduce the overall construction programme, facilitating earlier commencement of trading.