Big names urge Gove to call in M&S Oxford Street demolition plan

The letter, signed by Julia Barfield, Robert Adam, Ian Ritchie, Sarah Wigglesworth, Amin Taha and Peter Barber among others, was initiated by SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the AJ after Michael Gove suspended Westminster Council’s planning approval last month pending a review by his department.

Marks & Spencer wants to bulldoze its flagship 1929 Art Deco store on Oxford Street and replace it with a much larger 10-storey retail and office block designed by Pilbrow & Partners.

The letter to the Communities Secretary says: ‘We now urge you to hold a public inquiry into these proposals which would unnecessarily pump nearly 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

‘In contrast to the slow release of carbon from existing buildings, these emissions would be released immediately because of the vast quantity of raw materials required such as steel and concrete.’

The letter acknowledges that Pilbrow’s proposed replacement building makes ‘several positive environmental moves’ and argues that the existing building’s life could be extended by another 100 years or more if similar design ingenuity was applied to a deep retrofit.

It says: ‘We believe the overall strategy for this site is wrong, with a development which is environmentally wasteful, destroys an elegant and important interwar building and, many feel, negatively affects Oxford Street and its wider West End neighbourhood. We should be adapting the building, not destroying it.’

The letter cites a report produced by architect and Net Zero expert Simon Sturgis commissioned by SAVE. The report, which claims the proposals were not compliant with the government’s Net Zero commitments or the GLA’s policy to prioritise retrofit, has already been shared with Gove's department by the heritage lobby group.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan had earlier faced fury from Sturgis and others after waving through the plans. Khan had initially given the scheme the green light on 1 April but then ordered a review after his officials admitted they had not reviewed the Sturgis report. Nevertheless, a fortnight later, the Mayor once again declined to veto the application, arguing that he had no grounds to do so, as it did not contravene the London Plan.

SAVE is a signatory of the AJ RetroFirst campaign alongside others including 14 Stirling Prize winning architects, engineers Arup, Hoare Lea and Max Fordham and developers British Land, Canary Wharf Group and Grosvenor Britain & Ireland.

You can read the open letter in full HERE.

The signatories are:

• Henrietta Billings, director, SAVE Britain’s Heritage
• Marcus Binney, executive chairman, SAVE Britain’s Heritage
• Will Hurst, managing editor, The Architects’ Journal
• Robert Adam, owner, Robert Adam Architectural Consultancy
• Peter Barber, founder, Peter Barber Architects
• Julia Barfield, founding director, Marks Barfield Architects
• Rab Bennetts, founder, Bennetts Associates
• Ben Bolgar, senior design director, The Prince’s Foundation
• Nicholas Boys Smith, director, Create Streets
• Basil Demeroutis, managing partner, Fore Partnership
• Sara Edmonds for Households Declare
• Mark Farmer, CEO and founding director, Cast Consultancy
• Lizzie Glithero-West, chief executive, The Heritage Alliance
• Jacob Loftus, CEO and founder, General Projects
• Lesley Lokko, architect, academic, curator
• Kevin McCloud, designer and broadcaster
• Alice Moncaster, senior lecturer in engineering, Open University
• Philip Oldfield, head of school of built environment, University of New South Wales
• Femi Oresanya, honorary professor, Bartlett School of Architecture
• Griff Rhys Jones, president, Victorian Society and Civic Voice
• Ian Ritchie, founder, Ian Ritchie Architects
• James Rixon for Architects Climate Action Network
• Charles Saumarez Smith, writer, curator, art historian
• Jonathan Smales, executive director, Human Nature (Places)
• Amin Taha, chairman, Groupwork
• Sarah Wigglesworth, director, Sarah Wigglesworth Architects
• Chris Wise, senior director, Expedition Engineering

Response from Fred Pilbrow, founding partner, Pilbrow + Partners

'We remain of the view that the project is of paramount importance to Oxford Street.  The proposals secure M&S’ future on the street and they transform the quality of the existing public realm which on Orchard Street and Granville Place, is dire.

'The three existing buildings, poorly connected and compromised in their layout, preclude M&S’ future occupation.  The scale of public realm transformation delivered by the proposals is urgently required.

'Arup’s Whole Life Carbon Assessment, prepared in compliance with GLA standards, demonstrates that the new build proposals have a 17-year payback for carbon and will deliver ongoing energy benefits for the next century.

'Both statutory authorities reviewing the project: Westminster City Council and the Greater London Authority, have looked in detail at the scheme and its environmental impacts.  Both have supported our plans.

'Those who have criticised our approach, including Simon Sturgis, have offered no calculations to substantiate their criticisms, nor have they engaged with the wider issues of Oxford’s Street future and its public realm which are core objectives of the proposals.

'An Inquiry will involve delay and expense that Oxford Street can ill afford and may prejudice M&S’ future at Marble Arch.  We urge Michael Gove to trust the robustness of the decisions carefully made by Westminster and the GLA.

'M&S’s position is more fully set out in [group property director] Sacha Berendji’s Blog. https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/site-resources/amp?pid=627388af7880b20e002032aa '