A new shopping destination will be unveiled in less than two weeks when Elements Square - the £130m extension to Almondvale Shopping Centre - opens its doors in Livingston, West Lothian on Thursday 16th October.

Together, Elements Square and Almondvale Shopping Centre will be known by the new name 'The Centre' providing a fresh, new, shopping environment and creating over 1,500 new jobs for the area.

The Centre, owned and managed by Land Securities, will significantly increase the shopping offer in West Lothian and form one of the biggest shopping centres in Scotland with a total retail space nearing 1million sq ft providing 155 shops, leisure space and an extensive catering offer.

In addition, the new retail destination will bring department store shopping to West Lothian for the first time with the arrival of anchor stores M&S and Debenhams, which will each span 90,000 sq ft.

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M&S, Debenhams, River Island, Swarovski and H&M as well as eateries ASK and Wagamama are amongst the names opening on launch day, with further outlets including Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Ortak and restaurant Tony Roma's opening in the coming months.

Elements Square is a 375,000 sq ft extension and was built with the modern day shopper in mind.

The expansive mall features double height glass shop fronts, terracotta and zinc walls and granite flooring - materials traditionally used in outdoor developments - to help give the feeling of shopping on the high street indoors, enabling customers to meet, relax and eat, whatever the weather.

To further enhance the outdoor/indoor feel, the roof has been specially designed using ETFE (plastic 'air-cushions' as used in The Eden Project and the 'water cube', Beijing's Olympic Swimming Centre) to ensure daylight floods into the mall. In the evening, lights are also embedded in the roof to give the impression of shopping under starlight.

The Wintergarden, located on the second floor and one of the catering areas at the new centre, will house 1,000 plants and trees including olive and fig varieties which are sure to provide a pleasant and relaxing environment for those looking to take a break from shopping.

Elements Square will open at 9.00am on Thursday 16th October. There will be a number of event activities on launch day including music, dance performances, personal fashion stylists as well as family entertainment. There will also be celebratory entertainment from Thu 16 - Sun 19 Oct.

(GK/JM)