The company has secured the £86.3 million contract to create a large mixed-use development that will house an 80,000 square foot Tesco superstore, seven further retail units, car park, police station and 259 apartments. Located on Love Lane, Woolwich, the site is close to the venue of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The project, which starts in April, is one of the biggest mixed-use developments by Tesco to combine so many types of accommodation. Willmott Dixon is working with Sheppard Robson, architect, Cyril Sweett, project manager and quantity surveyor, Walsh Associates, structural engineer and Scott Wilson, services engineer.

The development will see Willmott Dixon combine all three skill sets within its Capital Works division, which are major contracting, house building and interior design and fit-out. It’s also the company’s largest contract for a retail company, although it has many other large mixed-used schemes, particularly involving estate regeneration within urban locations.

Alongside the superstore, the 17 storey project will include basement car parking for both Tesco customers and residential owners, with Willmott Dixon also overseeing the realignment of associated roads into the complex.

The timescale for the project will see the new superstore open by October 2012, along with the first 100 residential units. The remainder of the development and apartments will be completed in stages with everything handed over by July 2013. Out of the 259 new homes, a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments, 189 are available for private sale and a further 70 for affordable rent.

The residential elements will achieve CFSH Level 3, and the Tesco supermarket will achieve Very Good under BREEAM Retail 2006.

Chief executive for Willmott Dixon’s Capital Works division, John Frankiewicz, says, “This is an exciting project for us, and with our extensive experience of working in busy urban locations on commercial and residential projects, this is a good fit for the skill sets we offer within Capital Works. Securing this contract further underlines our capacity to undertake complex, mixed-use projects as they emerge, and by delivering an excellent performance led by an award-winning team under project director Sabah Abed, it is the first of what we hope will be many such projects for Tesco.

“It will also bring huge inward investment to this part of Woolwich, which will create both new jobs and further growth with the arrival of many new skilled people who will be attracted by the modern apartments in a great location.”