Studio Egret West won the Competition to reinvigorate a prominent site in Maidenhead Town Centre.

The competition was managed on behalf of developers, Ryger Maidenhead Ltd/The London & Aberdeen Group with their long term associates, Smedvig Eiendom AS of Norway, who were seeking an architectural practice to bring imaginative thinking to build upon a high level strategic masterplan developed in conjunction with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

The new scheme will provide a mix of retail, commercial, offices and residential buildings with associated parking and a new public town plaza. The scheme will improve accessibility and links with the Nicholson Shopping Centre and car park, the High Street and the Maidenhead railway station (joining the Crossrail route from 2019). The scheme will complement Crossrail’s arrival by creating a stimulating and vibrant living and working environment, while raising the Town Centre’s profile as a new destination for shoppers, workers and residents and an attractive central meeting place.

Runners-up, Allies & Morrison, have also been chosen to do a major building within the scheme.

Studio Egret West and Allies & Morrison will now work with the local developers, London & Aberdeen Group; Smedvig Eiendom AS of Norway, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and PRoM (Partnership for the Rejuvenation of Maidenhead) on their design proposals. A planning application was submitted in May 2018 and subject to approval this is expected to start on site in January 2019 and the full development should be finished by summer 2022.

"It was a very difficult decision, due to the high quality of all the teams and submissions and whilst Studio Egret West’s proposals for Maidenhead struck a chord with the judging panel, Allies & Morrison’s proposals were also highly recommended. The masterplan addresses many of the key design challenges posed by the brief and will, no doubt, provide a thoughtful, elegant and playful development, very much embedded at the heart of Maidenhead."

Sarah Williams, S Williams Architects, acting as the RIBA Adviser