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Slough hasn’t always enjoyed the best rep. Once best known for its grey industrial landscape and as the setting for The Office, the Berkshire town has been labelled everything from Britain's most miserable place to the country’s ugliest town.
But that’s all set to change. A major regeneration scheme called North West Quadrant is now planned for Slough’s former Thames Valley University site, which has sat mostly unused since the university closed in 2010 (after being cleared in 2021, the site was turned into a temporary car park) A £640 million redevelopment plan could soon see the area transformed into a swanky new neighbourhood with homes, offices and public spaces.
The proposal aims to deliver 1,500 homes, a 250,000 sq ft office building, 45,000 sq ft of retail and leisure and a nursery for 100 children on the development. A planning application for the first phase of the scheme has been submitted to Slough Council, covering two development plots that would create 798 rented homes.
The partnership between Muse and Homes England aims to transform the site into a ‘new neighbourhood for the heart of Slough’. If Slough Borough Council approves plans for the North West Quadrant in September, construction could start in spring next year.
Kate McBride from Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, said the scheme would transform the site into ‘a vibrant, mixed-use neighbourhood that will deliver new homes, jobs and high-quality public spaces’.
The scheme forms part of wider makeover for Slough. The Queensmere and Observatory Shopping Centre, which dates back to the 1970s, closed its doors at the beginning of this year ahead of a revamp. In May, a gigantic 11 million entertainment hub named Mega City opened its doors with 10 bowling lanes, private karaoke rooms, AR clay pigeon shooting, VR arenas and pool tables.
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