The £80m mega-project that should bring more tourists to UK's most famous shopping street

Oxford Street in central London is an area steeped in history. Built by the Romans, it was notorious until the 18th century as a thoroughfare towards the Tyburn gallows. Stretching from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road, passing through Oxford Circus, it is a high street that is forever changing. 

In the late 19th Century, Oxford Street became a centre for dressmaking and fashion. Major department stores and fashion houses established themselves on the street, solidifying its reputation as a fashion destination.  Today it remain's the UK's most famous and popular shopping street, packed with department stores and fashion chains,  although somewhat blighted by a plethora of American candy stores Westminster Council is vowing to crack down on.

According to Construction News this famous shopping street is now gaining "new recognition for all the big-ticket construction projects dotting its length, encouraged by the arrival of Crossrail and a post-pandemic verve to bring people back to city centres." One such project is the £80 million The Ribbon, a retail-led mixed-use building, named in homage to the site’s dressmaking history. 

Various design features reflect that tradition, including the rich colours of the facade, for which architects Orms drew inspiration from fabric, according to Construction News.

It said: "The Ribbon may have been designed to blend in with Oxford Street’s fine heritage buildings, but the way it is being constructed is anything but traditional. The building’s nine storeys and two split basement levels are enclosed by a mixture of steel frame, cast in-situ reinforced concrete, composite floor slabs and precast concrete.

"The building’s facade is striking. In a departure from the standard yellowy 'London Stock' bricks that predominate across the capital, the Ribbon is cloaked in a reddish-brown brick."

The windows curve round the corners of the building, adding to its striking appearance on a corner plot at 134 Oxford Street.

Numerous flagship stores in the vicinity include Uniqlo, Dr Martens, Footasylum, Next and H&M.

When completed it will consist of 2,500 square metres of prime retail space, 7,500 square metres of office space with bike storage, showers and changing rooms, plus a basement nightclub.

The nightclub was added to the scheme as a planning requirement, after mayor Sadiq Khan in 2018 objected to the loss of the Scandal venue that formerly occupied the site. As it was added relatively late in the process, the nightclub forced a rethink over the building’s original design.

The project is thought to be around two thirds completed and due to be completed in the late Autumn. Soon after, The Ribbon will open its doors to the shopping public and its offices to staff and a new phase of Oxford Street’s long history may yet begin.