Magna Square, Egham, for Runnymede Borough Council and Places for People, with Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Elliott Wood, Atelier 10 and Graham Construction

Four buildings in the heart of Egham make up the £90m Magna Square development. The project delivered 67 apartments for private sale or rent, 34 affordable flats and student accommodation; with an additional 1,000sqm of new commercial space at ground floor level.

Who is on the project team? (designer, consultants, etc)

Client: Places for People and Runnymede Borough Council

Architect: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Main Contractor: Graham Construction

Project Manager: TMD

Structural / Civil Engineer: Elliott Wood

Partnership Services/ Fire Engineer: Atelier Ten

Cost Consultant: Alinea

Planning Consultant: Quod

Landscape Architect: Grant Associates

Transport Consultant: Vectos

Acoustic Consultant: Gillieron Scott

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

Located within the Egham Conservation Area, the project comprises of four mixed use buildings providing retail, a cinema, 101 new residential homes and student accommodation. A new town square and wider pedestrianised public realm brings the buildings together. The development was designed to act as a catalyst for regeneration and usher in a new era of retail, entertainment and arts whilst providing new homes and referencing the local context within the design. 

How has this place adapted, and how does it continue to adapt, to changing demographics, behaviors, market context, policy, transport habits and the climate crisis? What makes it resilient?

Egham was historically a ‘through-town’ during the coaching era. However, the introduction of a railway line in the 19th century connecting Egham to Waterloo had a major impact on the site and wider townscape with the High Street and retail trade flourishing. The changing retail and economic patterns have left their marks on Egham with little concern for its historic fabric, which over recent years has seen the decline of the High Street. The development has been designed to act as a catalyst for regeneration and usher in a new era of retail, entertainment and arts whilst providing new homes and referencing the local context within the design. It also takes a progressive approach to energy consumption, choosing to reduce energy use with efficiency before generating its own energy to displace part of the residual demand. The design prioritised proposals that enhanced the long-term operation of the development alongside it’s construction stage impacts. In doing so, several design measures were incorporated into the proposals, improving the development’s environmental sustainability. The residential accommodation achieves an EPC rating of B. Although residential led, there are non-domestic elements of the mixed-use development that achieve a BREEAM “Very Good” rating. The unique placemaking opportunities provided by a local authority development allowed the design team to work with the client integrate civic values into the scheme. The scheme provides 34% affordable accommodation via socially rented housing, and creates a new destination for visitors with cinema, bars and restaurants assembled around a town square.

Please share any data or evidence about the social, economic and environmental performance of this place, or any relevant figures such as footfall, visitors, engagement metrics, residents, etc

Charlie Nicholson, Vail Williams Partner and Surrey office market expert, said: “We believe Egham is on the cusp of an office market resurgence, thanks in part to this multimillion-pound town centre regeneration project. It has delivered a vibrant 15-minute neighbourhood which has resulted in increased footfall in the town centre, owing to the mix of residential and student accommodation, and a much-improved retail and leisure provision. This, together with Magna Square, has created a much more desirable place for which business to locate, and the office rents aren’t too bad either. Sitting at around £30 per sq ft for Grade A space, Egham is particularly cost-effective for the smaller occupier, where Staines has increased to £39.50 psf and Windsor is at mid-£40s psf.” Planning Resource said: “Magna Square is a development that will benefit the local community hugely – as well as its provision of mixed tenure housing, the addition of new retail and leisure facilities will anchor this location as an important community hub. The residential elements of this development will ensure that homes are accessible for a wide range of local customers.”