Following the success of our retail‑repurposing scheme at Highcross, we worked with Hammerson to secure permission for the repurposing of the former House of Fraser unit at The Oracle Shopping Centre, Reading. The original proposals sought to reconfigure the existing three‑storey department store into a mix of new spaces for retail, leisure and food‑and‑beverage uses. The scheme also included extensive façade works to remove inactive and bulky projecting pop‑outs and replace them with simple, clean glazed portals, reactivating the existing Riverside façade.

The impact of the Covid pandemic on the retail and leisure industry in early 2020 meant that a reduced scheme needed to be considered. Urban Edge therefore revised the proposals into a simpler configuration, forming two new retail units at upper and lower mall levels and a new leisure unit at riverside level. The scheme sought to reactivate a potential dead end within the internal mall and revitalised elements of the riverside public realm.

Shell works were completed in early 2025, with new tenants Hollywood Bowl and TK Maxx taking occupancy at the riverside and lower mall levels respectively. Zara completed the scheme following additional works to the adjacent mall area, relocating from their existing unit within the centre to a new 40,000 sq.ft unit at upper mall level.