Nene Valley tourist site rises up with steelwork

Structural steelwork is under way on the Rushden Lakes leisure, retail and tourism development in the Nene Valley, Northamptonshire.

Covering an area of 244 acres, the £55M development will include three main steel-framed retail buildings, requiring nearly 2,000t of steel and is currently being erected by Caunton Engineering.

In consultation with the Wildlife Trust and Natural England, project architect HPW has designed the buildings to include extensive renewable energy systems.

The three blocks consist of a House of Fraser store, another block accommodating Marks and Spencer, and Primark and one further retail structure.

Working on behalf of main contractor Winvic Construction, Caunton will also be supplying and erecting the steel for three further smaller buildings to house restaurants overlooking the site’s lake.

The development sits alongside the A45 on the edge of Rushden in Northamptonshire. The site is situated opposite a Waitrose Food & Home store, Wickes and a Lidl.

The A45 is the main arterial route between Junction 15 of the M1 at Northampton and the A14/A1 Junction. The catchment area is large with over 100,000 people living within a 10 minute drive and over 600,000 within a 30 minute drive time, according to the 2001 Census.

In May 2016 developers LXB completed the sale of Rushden Lakes to The Crown Estate for £140M. LXB has retained responsibility for overseeing the development and lettings while The Crown Estate will fund the future development costs.

The first retail units on the site are scheduled to open in early 2017.