Victoria Square is a shopping and leisure complex located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The area includes over 70 international and local brands, restaurants and the Odeon cinema. The centre also features a dome. Victoria Square is a premium commercial, residential and leisure development in Belfast developed and built by Multi Development UK over 6 years. At approximately and costing £400m, it is the biggest and one of the most expensiveproperty developments ever undertaken in Northern Ireland. It opened on 6 March 2008. Its anchor tenant at nearly is the largest House of Fraser that the retailer has opened in the UK.
Design
A key element in the development is two covered, multi-level streets linked to the massive glass dome measuring 35 m in diameter. A public square covered entirely by the glass dome serves as the hub of the entire area. The ornate Jaffe Fountain, constructed in the 1870s by former Lord Mayor Otto Jaffe in memory of his father, has been restored to its original location in Victoria Square. Victoria Square is a neighbourhood consisting of 17 contextual different buildings. Pedestrian links to nearby business, nightlife and shopping streets on Laganside, Donegall Place, Royal Avenue and Ann Street. Victoria Square includes a wide variety of shops for males, females and children as well as a wonderful 80 ft viewing area. Victoria Square was developed by Multi Development UK Ltd in co-operation with T+T Design. The Architects are Building Design Partnership and T+T Design, the in house architects of Multi Corporation.
Sustainability
Over 3,000 people were involved in the construction phase of Victoria Square, with a further 3,000 people employed in the scheme through jobs in retail, security and the service industries. Environmentally, a large section of the roof has been covered in Sedum in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint of Victoria Square. Victoria Square is the largest ever retail-led regeneration scheme to open in Northern Ireland, covering. Multi Development UK was appointed Department for Social Development's development partner in 2000. The scheme was granted outline-planning approval in 2002. Multi Corporation sold Victoria Square to Commerz Real in 2004. Construction commenced in April 2004 and lasted 46 months to completion and was overseen by local joint venture contractors Farrans and Gilbert Ash.
Facilities
The development spans approximately 800,000 ft² of retail over four floors. Q-Park provides 2 levels of basement parking with c. 1,000 car spaces. The retail space includes 98 unit shops, with leisure units including an 8 screen Odeon Cinema. There are also restaurants, bars and cafés. The development also included 106 apartments. On 24 November 2013, a car bomb detonated outside a Victoria Square car park. There were no injuries.
