Friars Walk, Newport

Friars Walk is a partially under-cover shopping centre and leisure complex in Newport city centre, South Wales. It has several levels and includes a range of high street shops, eateries, a cinema, a bowling alley and a soft play area. The complex is linked by the redeveloped John Frost Square to the Kingsway Shopping Centre, Newport Museum, Art Gallery and Central Library and Newport bus station. The complex is a short walk from the high street shops of Commercial Street and High Street. Newport railway station is also a short walk away.

Friars Walk
John Frost Square, Friars Walk
LocationNewport, South Wales
Coordinates51.5859°N 2.9926°W / 51.5859; -2.9926
Opening date12 November 2015
DeveloperQueensberry Real Estate
OwnerTalisker Corporation
Total retail floor area390,000 sq ft (36,000 m2)
No. of floors3
Websitefriarswalknewport.co.uk

The Friars Walk car park holds 350 cars and over 1000 spaces are available in the adjacent Kingsway multi-storey car park, both accessed from the A4042 Kingsway. There are cycle racks located in Usk Plaza.

Development

The original plans by Modus Corovest were scrapped in 2009 because of the 2008 financial crisis[1] but revived in a £100 million scheme by Queensberry Real Estate in 2012. Plans included a six-screen cinema, ten pin bowling alley, eight restaurants and a 350 space carpark.[2] A new bus station was also included, with finance coming from a £90 million loan from Newport City Council.[3]

The new design was by Leslie Jones Architecture.[4] Construction began in April 2014. The scheme opened on 12 November 2015, raising Newport from 200th to 77th in the UK's retail rankings and heralded as a "lifeline for Newport".[4] The total cost came to £117 million.[4]

In June 2017, the site's developer Queensberry Real Estate sold the centre to Talisker Corporation,[5] the Canadian owner of Main Square in Toronto, and Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah.

Chartist Steps

The steps connecting Usk Plaza to John Frost Square are inscribed with the six points of the People's Charter to commemorate the Chartist movement and the Newport Rising of 1839 led by John Frost.

Stores

Debenhams, opened by designer Julien MacDonald,[4] is the only anchor store. There are also several restaurants, a Cineworld cinema,[4] and a Super Bowl UK ten-pin bowling lane.[6]

  • Usk Plaza, Friars Walk, 2015
  • Chartist steps (upper), Friars Walk
  • Chartist steps (lower), Friars Walk
  • Sculpture of Vision of Saint Gwynllyw by Sebastien Boyesen

References
  1. "City's £200m shops plan scrapped". BBC Wales News. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. "Newport's Friars Walk shopping plan approved". BBC Wales News. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. Ruth Mansfield (1 October 2014). "Newport Friars Walk is taking shape". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. Karen Price (12 November 2015). "Newport's Friars Walk offers a real lifeline for the city so let's hope locals support it". Wales Online. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  5. "Friars Walk has been sold to a Canadian investment company". South Wales Argus.
  6. Jo Barnes (2015-12-21). "Work starts on £1.8m Superbowl at Newport's Friars Walk". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
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