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Remember BHS? The British high-street department store founded in 1928 used to be where you could go to pick up Tammy Girl, homeware and grab a latte on your way out. But it joined the likes of Woolworths, Blockbuster and Jane Norman at the big high street in the sky when it went into administration in 2016. Now 33 Cavendish Square, the Oxford Circus building that was once home to BHS and the London College of Fashion is to undergo a massive makeover.
Plans have been submitted to transform the building next to Cavendish Square into a new shopping destination and events space with an auditorium, with offices above.
The building was occupied by the high street stalwart BHS from 1961 until 2016 when the company went bust. UAL’s London College of Fashion campus relocated from the central London site to Stratford in 2023.
Plans submitted by Berkeley Estate Asset Management (BEAM) and Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) want to see 33 Cavendish Square turned into 75,000 square metres of offices, with 3,500 square metres of retail and cultural space. Announcing the plans, the developers said the auditorium could be used for TED talks, product launches and fashion shows. More than half of the existing building will be retained and given an eco-friendly facelift, becoming all-electric and net zero.
It’s estimated that the building’s regeneration could generate £550 million annually and create 1,200 jobs for each year of construction and almost 4,500 once it is complete. If approved by Westminster City Council, works are expected to start in 2029 and run until 2033.
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