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Sainsbury's, Greenwich

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Sainsbury's, Greenwich, also known as the Sainsbury's Millennium Store,[17] was a Sainsbury's supermarket building at 55 Bugsby's Way, Greenwich Peninsula, London. Opening in 1999 as Sainsbury's flagship store, the building design incorporated environmentally conscious features and gained critical acclaim, being shortlisted for the 2000 Stirling Prize. It was billed as "the first Green supermarket in the world".[18]

Sainsbury's Greenwich
Sainsbury's Greenwich in September 2010
Map
General information
Architectural style
Address55 Bugsby's Way, Greenwich Peninsula, SE10[1]
Town or cityRoyal Borough of Greenwich, London
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates51°29′24″N 0°1′0″E / 51.49500°N 0.01667°E / 51.49500; 0.01667
Opened14 September 1999[5]: 118 
Closed24 June 2015[6]
Demolished2016
Cost£13 million[7]
ClientSainsbury's
Technical details
Floor area55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2)[2]: 157 
Design and construction
Architect(s)Chetwoods Architects[8]
Other information
Public transit accessLondon Buses: Route 108,[9][10] route 129,[11] route 132,[12] route 161,[13] route 472,[14] route 486[15]

Underground: North Greenwich (0.92 miles; 1.48 km)[16]
Rail: Westcombe Park (0.39 miles; 0.63 km)[16]

DLR: Cutty Sark (1.31 miles; 2.11 km)[16]

In 2014, planning permission to demolish the store was approved by Greenwich London Borough Council with Sainsbury's moving to a new site in Charlton. After an application for listed status failed, demolition began in 2016 and an IKEA store was built on the site.[19]

Background

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Previously the Greenwich Peninsula was an industrial area,[20] before being marked for redevelopment in the 1990s.[4]: 5  Sainsbury's bid to build a supermarket on the Greenwich Peninsula was won amid "fierce competition" from other supermarket chains.[2]: 121  The site, a former sports ground,[5]: 112  was a prestigious one at the time,[2]: 153  since it was close to the Greenwich Millennium Village and the Millennium Dome.[2]: 154 [21] The brief stipulated that the design should "reflect the environmental aspirations of the adjacent Millennium Village".[4]: 5 

Tesco had commissioned a design from Aukett Architects and Asda had commissioned a design from Grimshaw Architects; Morrisons had also submitted a design.[2]: 154  The original Sainsbury's design, by Chetwoods Architects, was circular and designed so that it could be built anywhere on a north–south axis; it was initially thought by the firm to be too eccentric but was presented to the Sainsbury's board who unanimously chose it, believing it to be the most likely to succeed in competition with other supermarkets' designs.[2]: 162 

Sunday Business reported in May 1998 that Asda had initially been chosen, but that the deal had "foundered" and Sainsbury's was then selected.[2]: 156  Sainsbury's bought the site for more than £30 million.[2]: 157 

Sainsbury's winning bid led to scrutiny from the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, led by Tim Yeo, the shadow minister responsible for planning.[2]: 155–156  The scrutiny was due to Lord Sainsbury being a Labour Party donor and having a close relationship with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.[2]: 156 

Design

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The Greenwich store was designed to minimise its environmental impact and give a more pleasant shopping experience.[19] Dino Adriano, Sainsbury's CEO, said the building marked "a watershed in supermarket architecture".[22] The store was designed by Paul Hinkin of Chetwood Associates,[19] and helped the architecture practice "[become] noticeable on the architectural horizon".[23] Other companies involved in the project include Max Fordham & Partners as concept engineers, Oscar Faber Partnership as services engineers, WSP as structural engineers, and RGCM as construction managers.[2]: 160 

The supermarket covered 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2), including 33,000 sq ft (3,100 m2) of trading space.[2]: 157  Hinkin described the building as "a simple rectangular plan" with six internal columns.[3] The store was designed to be "a naturally lit and ventilated food hall surrounded and protected by earth banks".[5]: 113  This was done with a saw-tooth roof section which let daylight in,[5]: 114  as well as allowing people inside to see the sky.[4]: 2  The building had a steel frame and concrete walls, covered by banks of earth; the entrance was glass-fronted with timber walls to each side and the service areas at the back of the building were faced with grey bricks.[4]: 8  The store included bakery, meat, fish and delicatessen counters, a customer café, warehouse space, offices, and a staff canteen.[4]: 8 

Sustainable features

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Wind turbines and pond habitat at Sainsbury's Greenwich

By utilising daylight instead of artificial lighting and having combined heat and power (CHP), Sainsbury's Greenwich consumed 50% less energy than a conventionally-designed supermarket.[1] Wind turbines and solar panels were installed to provide renewable energy,[7] intending to generate enough to power the store's signs overnight.[24]: i  In reality, there was often not enough sunlight or wind power to have the signs permanently illuminated and they were later connected to the National Grid.[2]: 161  The store's petrol station was the first Sainsbury's building to be built with solar panels; since panels were expensive at the time, none of the company's other buildings had solar panels installed until 2011.[25] Energy-saving measures were predicted to save £60,000 per year;[2]: 159  it was intended that, by 2001, energy-saving and sustainable features could be evaluated and replicated in other stores.[24]: 8–9, 14 

The building's sides were covered with earth to increase insulation, although this had to be altered in the final designs to allow for emergency exits.[2]: 160  The landscaping around the store was done by the Woodland Trust.[1] It included various habitat types including woodland and meadow areas and a wetland pond and reed bed which used recycled water from the building's roof.[2]: 158  The entrance lobby was created from recycled aircraft parts and car tyres and wall panels in the toilets were made from recycled plastic bottles.[23]

Criticism

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The building's environmental credentials did not go unchallenged, especially due to the design's perceived car-centricity. A report by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy said that the supermarket "cater[ed] to the car" and highlighted its location next to a 300-space free car park.[26] An article in The Evening Standard noted that "for all the oil by-products saved by the panels in the nappy-changing rooms, rather more will come out of the thousands of exhaust pipes that will come and go everyday", and Friends of the Earth said the building was "repeating one of the worst mistakes of the 20th century in producing a car-generating high street-destroying superstore".[2]: 110–111  Sainsbury's responded that people using cars to go shopping was the current reality, and that using other forms of transport was something that would have to be introduced gradually.[2]: 158 

Despite Hinkin's argument that the building was "ideally suited for a wide range of uses",[3] a principal criticism of the store's design was that it was seen as inflexible, which impacted upon its sustainability.[4]: 2–3  The listing report by English Heritage noted that the heating and cooling systems limited the way the shop floor could be used, and the building's architecture meant that extension or alteration was less feasible.[4]: 2–3 

Recognition and press coverage

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The building scored a perfect 31 out of 31 environmental rating, the highest score ever for a retail building, and was the first supermarket and first British building to receive an 'excellent' BREEAM rating.[7][19] It was recognised as "the greenest supermarket building in the world" at the time,[23] and described by architecture critic Robert Park as "the most energy-efficient supermarket building we have ever seen".[3]

The store's environmentally friendly features were often covered by the press,[2]: 162  sometimes heavily relying on Sainsbury's own promotional materials.[2]: 154  The reception from the architectural and national press was generally positive.[4]: 5 

Awards

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Sainsbury's Greenwich received a number of awards for its architecture and sustainable design. It was awarded 'millennium product' status by the Design Council on 14 December 1999.[5]: 118  In 2000, it was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize and won a RIBA Regional Award and the RIBA Journal Sustainability Award.[4]: 5  The store also won the Design Museum's Design Sense Award, the Retail Week Store Design of the Year 2000, and Channel 4's Building of the Year: People's Choice 2000.[23]

Opening and history

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Sainsbury's Greenwich was opened on 14 September 1999[5]: 118  by Jamie Oliver.[19][27] The store became one of 20 Sainsbury's shops in South East London to take part in what the company described as "the UK's first urban composting trial" to dispose of food waste that could not be donated.[24]: 12  Sainsbury's reported that the Greenwich store reduced its refuse collection from weekly to up to every three weeks.[24]: 12  The building was refitted in 2007 to resolve servicing issues and improve energy efficiency by another 20%.[4]: 5  The stores exterior timber walls, originally untreated white oak, where replaced with new varnished wood.[4]: 8 

In her 2008 thesis on supermarket architecture, Audrey Kirby suggested that the Greenwich store had "not fulfilled its much publicised potential" as a benchmark for supermarket design since conventional supermarkets continued to be built in the years afterwards, leaving it "a one-off" venture.[2]: 153  The following year, Sainsbury's Greenwich was one of the company's nine initial stores to install electric vehicle charging points; The Evening Standard said that this was "a boost" to Mayor of London Boris Johnson's push to promote electric vehicle use in London.[28] In 2010, Jacob Zuma visited the store during his state visit to the UK.[18][29] Zuma had requested a tour, and was accompanied by Justin King (Sainsbury's CEO) and Hilary Benn (the Environment Secretary).[29]

Closure and demolition

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Plans for closure

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In February 2012, Sainsbury's announced its plans to leave its Greenwich store, move to a larger site nearby, and lease the vacant building to a different, non-supermarket retailer.[30] The company said it was "looking to build a new flagship environmental store" and that new environmental technologies could be used if it built a new store.[30] Hinkin, the store's architect, said that the building should be used, as intended, for food retailing, and disagreed with Sainsbury's that the store's environmental features had been surpassed.[30] Some architects and designers suggested that the building's sustainability was compromised by its specific design as a food retailer, and that it should have been designed with reuse in mind.[3][30]

In November 2013,[31] Hinkin started a petition against the building's demolition, claiming that it represented "an act of vandalism".[32] Hinkin asked for help from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), but said they had "sat on their hands"; RIBA president Stephen Hodder called the supermarket "a landmark of its time" and said he would be sad to see it demolished, but concluded that it was a decision for the local council to make.[33] The petition gained support from over 1000 people,[34] including architects George Ferguson and Angela Brady,[8] and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett.[7]

Listing application and planning permission

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In February 2014, after IKEA had applied for permission to demolish the store and build a larger one in its place,[35] The Twentieth Century Society (C20) submitted an application to English Heritage for Sainsbury's Greenwich to be grade II* listed.[8][note 1] This would have made it both the first listed supermarket in the UK and the youngest building to ever be listed.[8] Catherine Croft, the C20's director, said that demolition would be "a tragic waste of energy and resources" and result in the loss of "the most innovative retail store to have been built in the UK in the last 50 years".[8]

According to Building Design, IKEA's application for demolition was "expected to be recommended for approval" by Greenwich London Borough Council.[35] The council received objections from Baroness Jenny Jones (then a member of the London Assembly), the Greenwich Conservation Group, the Westcombe Society, the Charlton Society as well as from the general public; 36 supporting letters were also received.[37] In March 2014, Greenwich Council's planning board approved IKEA's proposal by five votes to two, while saying that the store's demolition was "unfortunate".[7] Croft said the decision was disappointing, but said that it would not alter the ongoing listing application.[34]

Hinkin died on 16 August 2014, aged 49.[38] On 18 August, English Heritage advised against listing the supermarket.[4]: 1  Although it described the building's architecture as "graceful and humanised", its architectural interest was seen as limited due to the design's simple interior plan and lack of flexibility.[4]: 4  The building's historic interest was also not deemed sufficient for listing, because the store "has not proven to be influential but rather a one-off."[4]: 4  Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, accepted the recommendation and issued a Certificate of Immunity from Listing, meaning that another listing application could not be made for five years.[39] The refusal of the listing application allowed plans for demolition to go ahead.[40] Sainsbury's Greenwich was included on C20's Risk List for 2015, which also included Hyde Park Barracks, Robin Hood Gardens, Hove Town Hall, and St Peter's Seminary.[41]

Demolition

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The IKEA store being built on the site in 2018

The store's last day open was on 24 June 2015, closing for the final time at 6pm.[6] It was demolished in early 2016.[42] The IKEA store built on the site opened in 2019 and was described by the company as "our most sustainable store".[43]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Buildings less that 30 years old are not generally considered for listing and have to demonstrate "outstanding quality", equivalent to grade I or II*.[36]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Frank Krikhaar. "100 Buildings 100 Years - 1999: Sainsbury's Eco-store". Twentieth Century Society. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Audrey Kirby (July 2008). The Architectural Design of UK Supermarkets: 1950 - 2006 (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of the Arts London. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Paul Hinkin; Robert Park (14 March 2014). "Debate: Would the loss of Sainsbury's eco-store be a blow for sustainability?". Building Design. No. 2099. p. 7.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Case Name: Sainsbury's supermarket, 55 Bugsby's Way, Greenwich - Case Number: 1420356" (PDF). emap Publishing. English Heritage. 18 August 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Ron Slade; Andrew Woodward; Iain Shaw (May 2000). "Sainsbury's millennium store at Greenwich peninsula". Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering. 138 (3): 112–118. doi:10.1680/cien.2000.138.3.112.
  6. ^ a b Darryl Chamberlain (24 June 2015). "Goodbye to Greenwich's 'eco'-Sainsbury's: 1999 – 2015". Greenwich Wire. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Jonathan Prynn; Tim Stewart (13 March 2014). "Row over demolition of £13m 'supermarket of the future' in Greenwich". The Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e Laura Mark (20 February 2014). "Listing bid made in desperate attempt to stop Sainsbury's demolition". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Route 108: Lewisham - Blackheath - North Greenwich - Bow - Stratford". London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 25 November 2006. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Route 108: Lewisham - Blackheath - North Greenwich - Poplar - Bow - Stratford International". London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 1 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Route 129: North Greenwich - East Greenwich - Greenwich". London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 3 June 2006. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Route 132: Bexleyheath - Bexley - Blendon - Blackfen - Eltham - Blackheath - North Greenwich". London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 24 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Route 161: North Greenwich - Woolwich - Chislehurst" (PDF). London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 10 May 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Route 472: Thamesmead - Woolwich - North Greenwich" (PDF). London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 2 June 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Route 486: North Greenwich - Qn Elizabeth Hospital - Bexleyheath" (PDF). London Bus Timetable Graveyard. 23 February 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Ikea, 55 Bugsbys Way, London, SE10 0QJ". All Things Greenwich. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Sainsbury's Millennium Store". Chetwoods. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  18. ^ a b "South African State Visit, 2 to 5 March 2010". The Royal Family. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e "Lost Modern - Sainsbury's, Greenwich, London". C20 Society. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  20. ^ "History of the local areas". Royal Borough of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Greenwich Millennium Village" (PDF). ULI Development Case Studies. Retrieved 22 September 2024. The site, now Greenwich Millennium Village, is a trapezoid bisected by West Parkside. It is bounded by the Thames to the northeast and by three perimeter roads: Pear Tree Way, Bugsbys Way, and John Harrison Way. ... To the south of Bugsbys Way is a commercial zone, featuring a 14-screen cinema and big-box retail. There, Sainsbury's has constructed a flagship grocery that uses 50 percent less energy than other stores.
  22. ^ "Due for Demolition?" (PDF). Westcombe News. No. 3. April 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d Spiller, Neil (January 2022). "A Rapturous Delight in the Natural World: Laurie Chetwood". Architectural Design. 92 (1): 128–133. doi:10.1002/ad.2782.
  24. ^ a b c d "Working towards a better environment: Environment Report 2000". Morningstar. J Sainsbury plc. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  25. ^ "Saving energy while the sun shines". Air Conditioning & Refrigeration News. Vol. 29, no. 1. October 2012. p. 34.
  26. ^ Nicole Foletta; Simon Field (Summer 2011). Simons, Dani (ed.). Europe's Vibrant New Low Car(bon) Communities (PDF). Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2024. Many may travel to Sainsbury's for this trip, the first low energy food store in Britain, which is located just south of GMV (within one kilometer of most residences). ... However, while the supermarket has a focus on energy sustainability, it seems to have overlooked transport sustainability as it caters to the car; the store is located next to an extensive parking lot with more than 300 free to use spaces. The ease of accessible parking might encourage GMV residents to drive to the store rather than cycle or walk.
  27. ^ C20 Society [@C20Society] (September 15, 2022). "#TBT In Sept 1999, Chef Jamie Oliver opened Sainsbury's new Millennium eco store in Greenwich. Heralded as the most sustainable supermarket ever built, it represented a complete re-think of traditional retail-box design, yet lasted barely 20 years before being demolished in 2016" (Tweet) – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Sri Carmichael (5 November 2009). "Electric car charge points installed at Sainsbury's". The Evening Standard. p. 18. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  29. ^ a b "President Zuma visits Sainsbury's but shoppers are engrossed by cheese". The Times. 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  30. ^ a b c d Mark Wilding (17 February 2012). "Sainsbury's to ditch pioneering store". Building Design. No. 2001. p. 4.
  31. ^ "Award-winning 'eco-supermarket' faces demolition for new Ikea store". Building Design. No. 2087. 29 November 2013. p. 3.
  32. ^ Beth Brooks (7 December 2013). "Architects protest at demolition of Sainsbury's Greenwich store". The Grocer. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  33. ^ "Eco-Sainsbury's architect asks RIBA to stop demolition". Building Design. No. 2099. 14 March 2014. p. 3. Hinkin ... has asked the RIBA for help but said: "The RIBA have sat on their hands which is a bit disappointing." RIBA president Stephen Hodder said: "I'm sad to see the demolition of a supermarket which was clearly a landmark of its time. The question for the council is whether the benefits outweigh its demolition."
  34. ^ a b Laura Mark (6 March 2014). "Greenwich Council approves demolition of Stirling-shortlisted eco-store". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  35. ^ a b "Eco-store in last-minute listing bid". Building Design. No. 2096. 21 February 2014. p. 1.
  36. ^ "PRINCIPLES OF SELECTION FOR LISTED BUILDINGS" (PDF). GOV.UK. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. November 2018. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2024. Buildings less than 30 years old: such buildings are not normally considered to be of special architectural or historic interest because they have yet to stand the test of time. It may nevertheless be appropriate to list some modern buildings despite their relatively recent construction – for example, if they demonstrate outstanding quality (generally interpreted as being equivalent to Grade I or II*)
  37. ^ "IKEA Bugsby's Way: Site of Former Sainsbury's and Comet Units" (PDF). London Assembly. 9 April 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  38. ^ Laura Mark (18 August 2024). "Obituary: Paul Hinkin (1965 – 2014)". Architects' Journal. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  39. ^ Laura Mark (20 August 2014). "Stirling-shortlisted supermarket listing bid rejected". Architects' Journal. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  40. ^ Laura Mark (24 October 2014). "Threatened eco-store makes C20 list of Buildings at Risk". Architects' Journal. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  41. ^ Henrietta Billings (16 April 2015). "Buildings at Risk 2015". Twentieth Century Society. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  42. ^ Tim Clark (7 April 2016). "Demolition starts at prize-winning Greenwich store". Building Design. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  43. ^ Tom Ravenscroft (28 February 2019). "There's something seriously wrong with IKEA's most sustainable store". Dezeen. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
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