House of Fraser’s former flagship site on Oxford Street is set to undergo a £132m transformation, which will bring new offices and a swimming pool to the retail drag.
The site of the department store, which has laid empty for two years, has been taken over by McLaren Construction and Publica Properties Establishment to carry out the multi-million pound refurbishment.
Plans for the 34,000 sq m have been unveiled today which include new office space, two restaurants and a gym with a swimming pool.
Darren Gill, managing director London and South at McLaren Construction, said: “More of these asset re-purposing 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.”
He added: “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. McLaren’s investment in this expertise is paying off with a raft of high profile cut and carve projects in central London.”
It comes as Oxford Street is reinventing itself following a shift in shopping behaviours, largely fuelled by the pandemic and a rise in online shopping.
M&S’s redevelopment of its flagship at 456-472 Oxford Street could also be back on the cards, after Micheal Gove admitted he “misunderstood and misapplied” planning policy when he rejected it last year.