80 New Bond Street sits at an intersection with Oxford Street, one of central London’s most recognisable thoroughfares – a shopping and sightseeing destination visited by tens of thousands of people every day.
The redevelopment of the existing 1970s, 6-storey reinforced concrete-framed building has revitalised the Oxford Street shop frontage by creating a double-height retail space for flagship tenant, Abercrombie and Fitch. The Dering Street elevation to the south has been regenerated as a separate commercial entrance that redirects the focus of the building and encourages greater use of the local side streets.
Following assessment of the client brief, Price & Myers provided several solutions to demonstrate how the client’s requirements could be met with varying degrees of building adaptation, as compared to demolition and rebuild. Price & Myers worked closely with the design team to provide several scheme options for the client to assess at an early stage of design conceptualisation. These highlighted the trade-offs between demolishing or retaining significant proportions of the structure. As a result, the existing reinforced concrete (RC) frame was reused where possible, and two additional storeys added to the building to create high-end commercial spaces and a roof terrace at the eighth floor.
By carefully selecting cut lines between existing and new structure, adopting a minimal interventionist approach to the existing building, and reducing the number of interfaces between the existing and the new, it was possible to reduce environmental and financial costs, while accommodating possible future interventions. This approach enabled 75% retention of the building’s structure, benefiting both cost and programme. The need to provide transfer structure at the existing/new building interface was eliminated, keeping the design as simple as possible without the need to strengthen existing elements.
By focusing on the largest volume structural elements such as the floorplates, and providing remedial support details in areas which needed to be altered, the sustainability benefits of the retained frame were maximised. In total it is estimated that 2100m3 of concrete was retained, along with 200 tons of reinforcement steel. This is equivalent to approx. 950 tons of carbon. As a comparison, the average person in the UK is responsible for approximately five tons of carbon emission per year.
Price & Myers was able to determine the capacity of the existing foundations for the additional load of the added two storeys. This approach reduced the volume of waste removal, benefitting the surrounding area and reducing the number of site actions to minimise the construction programme. We worked closely with Orms to align the footprint of the additional storeys with the footprint of the existing building. This meant that the original floor structure did not need to transfer the load from the additional storeys, minimising the necessary intervention to the existing frame.
Close collaboration with the subcontractors enabled the introduction of higher strength S460 steel, which reduced steel tonnage and hence the embodied carbon, and financial cost - providing more space through smaller section sizes. Additionally, collaboration with the concrete suppliers allowed for the cement content in the concrete to be minimised.
80 New Bond Street is an exemplar of what can be achieved though close collaboration, informed early design decisions and innovative thinking. It has revitalised this busy intersection, creating a 21st century shopping and working environment. It has achieved this with effective reuse of existing structure that has saved both significant embodied carbon and capital investment.
