Architecture, design and engineering firm BDP have unveiled their plans for a 300,000sq m (3.2m sq ft) leisure extension to the Meadowhall shopping mall in Sheffield, UK.

London property company British Land are investing £300m (US$432m, €381m) in the project, which will go for public consultation next month.

The extension, called the Leisure Hall, will include a host of dining and entertainment amenities, including a gym, cinema, restaurants, a café court and new areas of public leisure space.

The hall will be housed under a glazed roof, with the extension integrating with the existing centre – which BDP are refurbishing – to create a new multi-levelled, landscaped complex. The design will also create new outdoor space for hosting large-scale events including concerts.

“The Leisure Hall extension will create a new identity for Meadowhall and provide a sequence of dynamic dining and entertainment spaces under a landmark glazed roof, significantly improving the customer’s experience of visiting the centre and creating a new holistic vision,” said BDP’s architecture director Jeremy Sweet.

A detailed planning application is due to be submitted later this year. British Land expects construction to begin in 2018 ahead of a public opening in late 2020.

BACKGROUND
When originally masterplanned, Meadowhall was conceived with a wide range of leisure elements by Ron McCarthy of Forrec, the Toronto-based experience design practice who worked on the original concept in the 1980s.

These elements included a quirky ride-through experience called the Ride of Life in which people would sit on a moving 'sofa' and be taken through a 'house' to be entertained with witty vingnettes of everyday life.

The Ride of Life was designed and built in conjunction with London outfit the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, but was value-engineered out of the project before installation in favour of a pizza restaurant.

The Ride of Life has had a few outings over the years, but does not currently have a home and is in storage.