The Grand Arcade in Cambridge, which opened in 2008, has become a go-to destination for luxury shopping in the region. Built over three sky-lit floors, the center boasts over 60 stores and restaurants, with the latest in fashion, beauty, home, technology, jewelry, and dining.

The 450,000 sq ft Grand Arcade scheme entailed the redevelopment of a major part of Cambridge City Centre. The regeneration area is bordered by St Andrew's Street, Downing Street (up to the Crowne Plaza) and St Tibbs Row, and provides a link through to the Lion Yard Shopping Centre. A three-story John Lewis department store (formerly Robert Sayles) sits at the center of the retail development following a major rebuild.

450,000	Over 60	500
sq ft	stores	cycle parking spaces

The existing properties in the regeneration area (excluding the historic frontage) were demolished to make way for the new department store, more shops, and a replacement car park. The listed buildings and historic frontages along St Andrew's Street were retained within the overall design, which relies predominantly on the use of natural rather than man-made materials including stone, glass, steel, and timber.

The build notably includes The Grand Arcade Cycle Park – the UK’s biggest free indoor city center cycle park. It is the first dedicated cycle park connected to a shopping center in the UK and provides space for around 500 cycle parking spaces and a cycle shop. Grand Arcade also houses the new Cambridge Magistrates' Court and the Cambridge Library.

To support this development, Asite’s project management platform was deployed to optimize workflows and facilitate collaboration across all stakeholders and on all areas of the project. Asite also provided an archive to store all project data, including all project records, metadata, and audit trail history.

The use of Asite here granted the ability to control and report on the flow of information over the entire lifecycle of the project, thus reducing risks and improving productivity and control throughout.

Huge global brands, including Tesla, have set up a home in the shopping center, solidifying its reputation as a premium retail destination.

In 2010, Grand Arcade beat out some of the world’s finest shopping centers to win the Advertising Effectiveness award at the prestigious International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) Best-of-the-Best Awards. 

The prize was awarded for Grand Arcade’s Architects of Fashion campaign, recognizing the creative content and the effectiveness in appealing to customers, which marked the center’s launch and first Christmas.

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