Former House of Fraser unit on Oxford Street set for £132 million revamp

The former House of Fraser flagship on London's Oxford Street is getting a £132 million revamp, with plans to turn it into a mixed-use space. 

The redevelopment will replace the department store with ground-floor retail, including two new double-height entrances, as well as office space, two restaurants and a gym with a swimming pool.

"This resilient mix of uses is intended to bring greater diversity to Oxford Street and helps to develop an evening economy," reads a statement from McLaren Construction, which has been appointed to carry out the refurbishment and extension of 318 Oxford Street.

The 6th and 7th floors, originally designed with low ceilings for back-of-house uses, will also be reconstructed, with the addition of a new terrace. Plus, a new set-back 8th-floor extension is intended to accommodate a top-floor restaurant and additional terrace.

The new project hopes to restore the art deco landmark, built in 1937 and occupied originally by DH Evans and then by the House of Fraser until it went into administration in August 2018.

McLaren Construction said the building is "badly damaged by Regent Street Disease" and the firm will be responsible for repairing the Portland stone façade, reinstating architectural features, and completing the Chapel Place façade.

Reuse of a large proportion of the façade and structure will reduces the new building’s whole-life embodied carbon, while the installation of high-performance windows and centralised building services will reduce operational carbon emissions.

The structural design relocates 10 steel columns retrieved from the demolished 5th floor to the new 8th floor. Meanwhile, the remaining 11 columns from the fifth floor have been transported across London to be re-used within another project.

McLaren Construction’s London and South Managing Director, Darren Gill, said: "More of these asset repurposing projects are coming through to the market. These are often familiar buildings in prominent locations. They present an opportunity to improve resilience through a variety of new uses – not just for the building, but for the area too."

The news comes as Marks & Spencer continues its High Court challenge over the blocking of its Marble Arch flagship redevelopment, which would include the demolition and rebuild of the site.

The retailer has accused Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, of "misinterpreting and wrongly applying the planning policy" in his previous decision to turn down its plans on heritage and environmental grounds.