Ikea plans more sustainable store in Greenwich

Swedish furniture store chain Ikea aims to build a new type of store in the United Kingdom, one with a larger focus on sustainability. The plans, which still have to be approved, have met with some resistance from locals.

Biodiverse roof garden

At the site of a former Sainsbury’s supermarket in Greenwich, Ikea hopes to build its new store formula, similar in size to its traditional 350,000 sqm stores. The major difference is that this new store will be far more sustainable, with a biodiverse roof garden, solar panels, rainwater collection and 22 electric car charging stations. However, not everyone is looking forward to the new store: local residents oppose the construction because they fear additional traffic would encumber the already highly congested area.

Nevertheless, expectations are that Ikea will get permission from the business-friendly council and that it will be able to tap into the area’s economically-interesting building boom and therefore its many new residents. By that time, the Greenwich store will not be the country’s first sustainable Ikea store, as Sheffield will see one open this summer already.