Great places aren’t built in a day. Or sometimes even a decade.
18 years after Westfield London opened its doors, RISE founders Keith Whitmore and Simon Cochrane reflect on the projects that shaped their careers, and the experience they're bringing to a new generation of major developments.
On 30 October 2008, Westfield London opened its doors.
The timing could hardly have been more challenging. The global financial crisis was unfolding, confidence was collapsing and one of Europe’s most ambitious retail developments was welcoming its first visitors.
Behind the opening was an extraordinary story of ambition, ingenuity and determination.
For Keith Whitmore, who led construction management of the original £1.7 billion development, the challenges had begun long before the first visitors arrived.
When Keith took on the project, the existing construction programme was already facing significant difficulties, with the planned approach unable to meet the required timescales. Starting with just a dozen people, he set about transforming its delivery. This included switching the construction methodology from concrete to steel to accelerate progress, alongside significant redesigns to elements of the shopping centre, including its distinctive luxury retail village.
“The challenge wasn’t simply delivering a project of this scale. It was taking an established construction programme, fundamentally rethinking the strategy and bringing together a team with the expertise and determination to deliver against an exceptionally demanding timeframe,” Keith reflects.
The years that followed brought a new phase of ambition for Westfield London.
Simon Cochrane played a leading role in the destination’s next chapter, overseeing the pre-development, design and delivery of its £600 million expansion, including a new John Lewis department store and further retail and leisure space. Planning permission was also secured for approximately 1,700 new homes, laying the foundations for the site’s future evolution.
Working alongside some of the world’s leading design and engineering studios, Simon’s focus was on creating an exceptional destination and memorable experiences for visitors.
“My focus was always on the customer experience; how the building worked, how people moved through and enjoyed its spaces, and how we could consistently exceed expectations,” Simon recalls.
Throughout its evolution, the focus extended well beyond the scale of the development itself.
It was about creating extraordinary places and experiences, combining exceptional design with commercial performance, operational excellence and the flexibility to evolve.
Westfield London would go on to become a catalyst for the wider regeneration of White City and Shepherd’s Bush, with an impact that continues today.
Because the true measure of a development isn’t just what you deliver on opening day. It’s what it becomes over time.
From landmark destinations to lasting regeneration
Westfield London was part of a much bigger chapter in their careers.
At Westfield Stratford City, Simon led the masterplanning, planning and design process, while Keith subsequently led development and construction of the £1.8 billion destination ahead of the London 2012 Olympics.
Their involvement continued long after its opening, helping shape the wider mixed-use development, including offices, hotels and the award-winning Coppermaker Square residential neighbourhood.
These projects reinforced lessons that have stayed with both founders: the importance of bringing together the right people, working collaboratively, responding to challenges and turning an ambitious vision into reality.
And importantly, thinking beyond the immediate development programme to the lasting value a place can create.
The next generation of great places
The lessons from Westfield continue to shape the approach Keith and Simon bring to RISE, the independent property development and consultancy business they founded in 2023.
Today, they’re applying decades of experience to some of the UK’s most exciting development opportunities, including the transformation of Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium, which secured planning approval earlier this year, and the emerging masterplan for a major new mixed-use district in South Leeds, where a proposed tram connection could play a critical role in unlocking the site’s wider regeneration potential.
Different projects. Different challenges. But the same belief in the power of ambitious, well-conceived and expertly delivered development.
Because great places aren’t built in a day. Or sometimes even a decade.