M&S wins approval for Oxford Street store redevelopment

Permission to demolish Marks & Spencer’s largest store and replace it has received the green light from Westminster City Council.Under Marks & Spencer’s redevelopment plans its largest flagship, which currently occupies three buildings at 456-472 Oxford Street, will be rebuilt.M&S will occupy just two and a half floors of the new 10-storey mixed-use building – rather than the five floors currently used – with the remaining floors acting as office space.The retailer’s plans, which were announced in March, will include 90,000 sq ft of retail space across the lower ground floor, ground floor and part of the first floor, as well as more than 300,000 sq ft of offices, which will be rented out to third-party businesses.The new scheme will also include a new small park in Granville Place, landscaped public realm and leisure facilities, including a gym.M&S applied for the building to be demolished on the ground that its layout was “hugely inefficient” and very confusing for shoppers to navigate.Councillors voted 5-1 in favour of the development and works are expected to be complete in 2027.The director of Save Britain’s Heritage, Henrietta Billings, called for the building to gain protected status on the grounds that it was a “handsome landmark”, but it has since been confirmed that government did not agree with her assessment and ruled that the building would not be listed as it was “not regarded as innovative nor of sufficient architectural quality”.