Kentish Express Ashford & District
Living wall to be focal point of site
As part of the expansion project, a £1.5 million plant installation will prove the centrepiece.
The ‘living wall’ display will feature about 120,000 plants, making it the largest living wall in Europe.
A leading company in the field - Biotecture - has designed, grown and installed the greenery, which will stretch to the length of 60 double-decker buses.
Raised in the firm’s West Sussex nurseries, amongst the species will be Fortune Spindles, Boxleaf Honeysuckles, Ivy and Violas.
The selection has been handpicked to shine all year round, and to bloom with the whole colour spectrum.
According to Biotecture, green wall systems can improve viewers’ moods, reduce air pollution and aid biodiversity.
The 100,000 sq ft extension - one of Ashford Borough Council’s ‘Big 8’ - is expected to create 500 jobs.
As well as the new shops, 725 new car parking spaces and a £400,000 interactive children’s play area, which opened in May, have been added to the site.
But the extension work hasn’t been without controversy as contractors were forced to close Newtown Road for months to allow for the expansion.
The closures sparked months of delays - including a 32-week stint between April and November last year.
The roadworks, which saw pedestrian walkways upgraded among the improvements, were carried out by Walker Construction and McLaren Construction - the latter hired as the main contractor on the Designer Outlet’s £90 million expansion.
Last October, contractors began removing the tented structure above the former food court to make way for the extension.
In July, six illegal workers were arrested following a raid at the outlet.
The men - five from India and one from Ukraine - were arrested after immigration officers executed a warrant at the construction site.
The Home Office said it was “acting on intelligence”.
Will you visit the £90m Designer Outlet extension? Write to Kentish Express, Unit 4, Park Mall shopping centre, Ashford, TN24 8RY or email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk