The Whitgift Centre is a large shopping centre in the town centre of Croydon, opening in stages between 1968 and 1970. The centre comprises of retail space, and was the largest covered shopping development in Greater London until the opening of Westfield London at White City in 2008. The Whitgift Centre has a monthly footfall of 2.08 million. The complex includes an office development. The shopping centre has been synonymous with Croydon since its opening. In 2013, Hammerson and the Westfield Group formed a joint venture to redevelop the shopping mall and combine it with neighbouring Centrale. After years of delays, work was expected to begin in 2020, although the future of the project was under review in February 2019 citing concerns over Brexit and structural changes on the high street. Background The name of the centre comes from John Whitgift, a former archbishop of Canterbury who is buried nearby in Croydon Minster. The Centre's freehold is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales. The Foundation sold a long-term lease to a company 75% owned and controlled by Howard Holdings plc, and 25% by the Foundation. Designed by Geddes Architects, the centre was built after the demolition of the historic buildings of Whitgift School, which had more recently been occupied from 1931 to 1965 by Whitgift Middle School, known from 1954 as the Trinity School of John Whitgift, both schools having subsequently moved away to new sites. History The centre was designed by Anthony Minoprio and built between 1965 and 1970 by Fitzroy Robinson & Partners. Commenting in 1971, architectural historians Ian Nairn and Nikolaus Pevsner stated that "most of the architectural details are banal, but the centre functions unusually well as a shopping precinct". In the first two decades of its existence, the Whitgift Centre had no roof and was open to the elements. The first shop to open was Boots on 17 October 1968, and the centre itself was officially opened in October 1970 by the Duchess of Kent. In the middle of the Whitgift Centre there was a Roman-themed pub called The Forum. In the 1990s, the centre was almost completely rebuilt to an atrium design, and the Forum pub was demolished. Some businesses of the former Croydon Village Outlet, based at the former Allders site, moved into Whitgift after the Outlet was taken over by Croydon Council in 2019. Structure The