The Great Western Designer Outlet at Swindon occupies the Grade II* Listed engine house of the former Great Western Railway.
The building, together with other historic locomotive repair works on the site, was in need of significant repair and restoration; financed by its conversion into a factory retail outlet open to the public. Owing to the listed status of the building, repair and cleaning work was rigorously monitored by the Conservation Officer and new work within the original shell had to proceed without alteration to the existing fabric. Consequently, 105 new freestanding retail units were erected between the cast iron structural columns and the original floor surfaces were protected by an isolating layer from new floor construction.
The complex is currently being visited by over 3 million people each year.