McLaren Construction has been appointed by Publica Properties Establishment to carry out the £132m refurbishment and extension of 318 Oxford Street, W1, repurposing the former House of Fraser department store as a 340,000 sq ft mixed-use development.
The project restores the art deco landmark, built in 1937 and occupied originally by DH Evans and then by House of Fraser until it went into administration in August 2018. The building is badly damaged by “Regent Street disease” and McLaren 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 “significantly reduce” the new building’s whole-life embodied carbon, said McLaren, while the installation of high-performance windows and centralised building services will reduce operational carbon emissions.
Publica development manager Joseph McNeil said the firm was undertaking a truly “retro-first” approach to the redevelopment and would be “bringing this building back to life with the minimum whole-life embodied carbon impact”.
Darren Gill, managing director London and South at McLaren Construction, added: “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 construction industry will increasingly need the skills to repurpose historic buildings. It’s essential if we want to balance the creation of quality spaces with reduced carbon footprints.”
The new building replaces a department store with ground-floor retail, including two new double-height entrances, and office space, plus two restaurants and a gym with a swimming pool.
Photo from McLaren Construction
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