The Watford Observer has been on a behind-the-scenes tour of the major construction project taking place right in the heart of Watford town centre.

This £180million scheme will see the council-owned Charter Place Shopping Centre redeveloped and integrated with the existing refurbished intu Watford shopping centre, transforming it into a single 1.4million sq ft destination.

Laing O’Rourke, the retail developer, has started digging deep into the basement to make way for a large unit that will soon be home to Debenhams.

In July, they took the original wooden animals from the Charter Place site and rehomed them in the Cha Cha Cha cafe situated just down the road in Cassiobury Park.

And in August, the AOC Archaeology Group discovered an old well and water tank on the building site, dating back from between 1700-1750 AD.

Watford Observer:

They were uncovered on the high street under the old Lloyds Bank unit.

The project has generated 500 construction jobs and will lead to 1,125 direct new jobs in retails, catering and leisure.

New public spaces for entertainment and events will be created, along with large modern retail units, a restaurant hub and cinema.

Cineworld will run the new 40,000sqft cinema multiplex, with approximately 1,500 seats and nine screens, one of which will be a high definition IMAX.

Debenhams, H&M and New Look have all agreed leases, joining the likes of Las Iguanas, Byron, TGI Fridays, Thaikun and Cabana.

Building works started in 2015, and a phased opening is due to take place from September of next year.

The development in numbers...

In total Laing O’Rourke will be:

• installing 2.5Km drainage

• pouring 13,268m3 concrete

• Use 1,270 Tonnes of reinforcement

• Use 6,000 Pieces of Structural Steel (5,000 Tonnes)

The total demolition waste taken from site so far is 72,000 tonnes, of which 67,000 tonnes have been recycled.