Margaret Thatcher was effusive as she admired a 200-pound cashmere sweater. “That’s lovely. Now that’s what I call investment,” he remarked. The then prime minister was visiting the recently expanded Marks & Spencer store in Marble Arch in 1987 as shoppers prepared for Christmas. Thatcher was flanked by Lord Rayner, the retailer’s chairman, as she spent nearly two hours touring the store, meeting with staff, greeting customers and picking up some items.
The Oxford Street M&S Store in the 1930s. Photography: Marks and Spencer
More than three decades later, relations between the unconditional main streets and the current Conservative regime are much less cordial, as a dispute over the same store on London’s Oxford Street threatens to become a famous cause. in the battle for the form of the remodels and the destiny. of the main streets of Britain.
This week, Michael Gove, the secretary of state for leveling, housing and communities, ordered a public inquiry into the plan to demolish and rebuild the flagship store on Britain’s most famous street.
Activists argue that the project would release 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, while M&S says the government’s intervention in its “significant investment in one of our most iconic commercial sites” could have “a terrifying effect on energy programs.” nationwide regeneration “.
The Oxford Street M&S Store in the 1950s. Photography: Marks and Spencer
Sacha Berendji, M&S real estate director, noted Oxford Street’s struggles to fill empty stores as large retailers have moved away, saying Gove “seems to prefer a proliferation of stores selling counterfeit goods to a regeneration of the nation’s favorite run by the gold standard retail trade. main street “.
M&S has refurbished other stores, such as Cheltenham and Chelmsford, but says it is not feasible to readjust the existing Marble Arch store, created over decades from a merger of three buildings that are no longer suitable, some of which contain asbestos.
Margaret Thatcher visits M&S at Marble Arch in 1987.
The retailer argues that any significant redevelopment of the existing building would involve the creation of additional carbon emissions without offering so many benefits from its new building. Its planned development will use 25% less energy than the existing site, benefits that its Pilbrow + Partners designers claim will last a century, with a maximum carbon return of 17 years and potentially less than 10.
This argument won the planning authorities of the Westminster City Council, while the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, chose not to intervene on the M&S application, considering it in line with the capital’s planning strategy.
With main streets across the country needing redevelopment to adapt to modern demands as the climate crisis intensifies, the debate over whether troubled buildings need to be renovated or rebuilt will only heat up more.
The M&S flagship store in 2000. Photography: Marks and Spencer
Will Hurst, the editor-in-chief of the Architects’ Journal, who backed a letter calling for Gove to intervene in M&S’s Oxford Street plans, has raised awareness of the carbon footprint of new construction through its Retro First campaign. He says three-quarters of local authorities have now declared a climate emergency, but “many of them have not been understood when it comes to planning and development.”
He says more than a third of the lifetime emissions of a typical office block and more than half of those of residential buildings are used in construction, so for municipalities with these environmental concerns it will be “foolish to keep making proposals” about new- builds.
“People are starting to realize the impact of large-scale reuse, like construction, because they understand it on a small scale,” he says. “They’re looking to buy second-hand clothes or realize they shouldn’t have to change their smartphone every six months.”
Nicholas Boys Smith, director of the think group Create Streets, says, “It’s clear that public expectation and the political process are moving. Change is on the way without a doubt.”
Green, but not green enough? An image of the Oxford Street store’s M&S remodeling proposal. Photography: Marks & Spencer
With carbon concerns rising on the agenda, he says there will be “some inconsistency” in decision-making and some tips and developers will be caught.
M&S plans may have attracted national attention, but it looks like similar projects have been approved without much drama in the near future, such as the demolition and redevelopment of a House of Fraser store in Victoria.
An entire city center is expected to be hit by the demolition ball at Cumbernauld in Scotland, as will a former Debenhams in Torquay, Devon, while there are battles over plans to demolish a Debenhams in Taunton. An application has recently been withdrawn to raz another in Harrogate.
In Oxford Street alone, some shops have already been demolished and rebuilt. However, the old Debenhams, House of Fraser, Next and Topshop stores are being remodeled rather than razed.
The Oxfords St M&S store as seen in the 1990s. Photography: Marks and Spencer
Outside of London, there are numerous examples of building reconstructions, such as the Jenners Building in Edinburgh and the Hammonds of Hull dining room that was created inside an old Fraser house.
Melanie Leech, executive director of the British Property Federation, says developers “are already adopting the circular economy and responding to the market demand for more sustainable buildings.” He called on the government to do more to accelerate progress, including planning reforms to prioritize the reuse of buildings and a VAT exemption for rehabilitation works.
In Westminster, there may still be a change of direction on the M&S project after the Conservative administration was ousted by Labor in the last council election for the first time since its inception in 1964.
Geoff Barraclough, councilor responsible for planning, said: “The council is taking itself seriously in reducing the environmental impact of new developments by emphasizing the benefits of rehabilitation over demolition.”
Sign up for the Daily Business Today email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk
He praised Gove’s intervention, saying that “all the problems posed by this case can be rigorously tested.”
Henrietta Billings, director of Save Britain’s Heritage, adds: “There are many examples where you can, with a little imagination, review existing buildings without having to demolish them.
“We need to get to a point where demolishing buildings unnecessarily is unacceptable due to environmental costs, where [demolition] it is the last resort rather than the first resource. “