US-based waterpark and resort operator, Great Wolf Resorts has announced plans to open its first venture overseas, with the Great Wolf Lodge opening in Bicester, Oxfordshire in 2022.
Great Wolf, which currently has 18 locations across North America, will submit a planning application later this month, with construction on the £200m complex scheduled to start in 2020.
The company expects the attraction to receive the 500,000 visitors a year, with Bicester chosen because of its transport links. The plans will create 600 full-time jobs when open, and 1,350 jobs during the construction phase.
The London office of EPR Architects, which was behind The Ned, The Mondrian and The Ace Hotel, is leading the design work for the project.
The proposed site is currently home to the Bicester Golf Course, half of which will be redeveloped to accommodate the 186,000sq m (2,000,000sq ft) development.
The resort will be anchored by an 8,800sq m (95,000sq ft) indoor waterpark, with an adjoining 5,000sq m (54,000sq ft) adventure park featuring a high ropes course, climbing wall, miniature golf, bowling and an arcade. There will also be a 500-bedroom hotel set over four storeys.
If plans gain approval, the golf course and its adjoining hotel and spa will continue to operate, but the course will have only nine holes instead of 18, with new facilities, including an outside swimming lake and a new restaurant developed for the course.
