Overview

This shopping centre was set on a hill in central Norwich. The hill was quite large so the streets around it had some steep inclines! It was a bit of a struggle for me to push myself to it with my little arms! It’s a nice shopping centre with a wide variety of shops and other amenities including a food court, a cinema and even a park on top of it! Despite being on a hill, the centre itself was all flat with smooth flooring so it was really easy to navigate once you were inside. There were lifts inside to help you navigate the different floors. It’s worth noting that the lifts to the two car parks are separate to the lifts to navigate the centre itself. There’s also a Changing Places Toilet inside the centre and it was huge! It was a well-located find that also provided a good spot to take a break from the hilly streets!

Transport & Parking

The shopping centre has two designated car parks and has a total of 30 accessible parking spaces available across the two car parks. Charges apply for parking in both and they have a height restriction of 2 metres (6ft 6in). There are two bus stops located right by the other entrance to the shopping centre on Castle Meadow. The buses you can get from here are: 23, 24, 42, 43, 43A, 44A, 45, 45A, 54, 55B, 57, X0, X41, X44 and X55. Norwich Train Station is about 1 kilometre away from the shopping centre. It’s approximately a 15-minute walk, although there are some steep inclines on the roads. Those that struggle with severe inclines may find the walk is longer.

Access

There are two entrances to the shopping centre, one on Cattle Market Street and one on Castle Meadow. They were both step-free and brought you straight into the shopping centre. The flooring inside was really smooth and the walkways were all flat making it really easy to navigate on wheels. The shops all had step-free access and there were lifts and escalators to all the different areas. The lifts had tactile buttons inside and outside. The signage was really clear and made it really easy to navigate and find what I was looking for. I didn’t see any alternative formats being used in the shopping centre and there wasn’t any sign that a hearing loop was in operation. There were some benches in certain areas of the centre.

Toilets

There was a ginormous Changing Places Toilet inside the centre. If you entered via Cattle Market Street then you’d find the toilet on your left-hand side as soon as you enter the building. The signage for this toilet throughout the shopping mall was pretty good and you’d be able to find it from anywhere in the shopping centre. I used my RADAR key to access the toilet and the door opened inwards. Because of how much space there was in this toilet I actually preferred the door opening inwards here. It meant that I could put my bag in front of the door to help keep it closed just in case someone else tried to use their RADAR key to get in too. Usually the space inside the toilet is much smaller so an outward opening door is better but this worked well here. The toilet had lots of space for both a left- and right-side transfer with grab rails that could be raised and lowered on both sides. There were also two vertical grab rails that were mounted on the wall behind the toilet, one on each side of it. The flush was operated with a flush handle on the toilet cistern. This was mounted behind the toilet but higher up, the bottom of the cistern was the same height at the lid of the toilet seat when it was in an upright position. Opposite the toilet was a height-adjustable bench and a ceiling hoist. A stocked paper towel dispenser was mounted on the wall to the left to provide a covering for the bench. The sink was towards the back of the room. It had a tap that was manually operated (no automatic sensors) with a large handle. A mirror was mounted directly above the sink and a soap dispenser was mounted to the left of the mirror. The soap dispenser needed to be pushed to dispense. An automatic hand dryer was mounted on the wall to the left of the sink. A paper towel dispenser was also available next to the hand dryer.

Staff

Photos