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This very fresh and witty piece of architecture innovates by turning the John Lewis department store inside out. It is a clever and interesting manipulation of surface, pattern and route around the building – the client Hammerson is to be congratulated for a brave commission within a larger city centre regeneration scheme at Highcross.

It represents a unique exploration of the notion of the architectural skin, adding a refreshing dimension to a world where usually there is tension between signature design and commercial requirement. The new cladding system allows unrivalled amounts of daylight for a department store. The pattern, a ‘net curtain’ inspired by Leicester’s historical textile industry and John Lewis’s own fabrics, was researched and selected from archived John Lewis pattern books. As such it celebrates regional identity. Attached to the side of the store, the Cineplex, clad in stainless steel shingle-like scales, has a contrasting shimmering, impenetrable skin.