Category

Best Repurposing & Placemaking Project

Entered By

BDP Ltd

Why did you want to enter The Revo’s? 

We entered The Revos because they recognise excellence across the retail and placemaking sector. The awards provide a respected platform to highlight projects that contribute positively to the evolution of our high streets, and 214 Oxford Street represents a strong example of how thoughtful design can support that transformation.

What makes your entry standout?

Oxford Street is the nation’s high street – and it’s on the world stage. For more than a century it’s been the shop window of London, a place where new ideas in retail and culture have taken shape. But like all great streets, it has to keep reinventing itself.

At 214 Oxford Street, right at the confluence of two of the most famous streets in the country, we’ve had the chance to prove how old buildings can create new beginnings. A Grade II listed retail block that once had a single use is now a mixed-use landmark. IKEA in the basement with a London-inspired experience, new retail concepts at street level, and 80,000 square feet of world-class office space above. It’s about creating the future from the past.

For us, the big picture is about experience. People don’t come to Oxford Street just to buy, they come to explore, to connect, to be surprised. Our job as designers is to create those steppingstones along the journey. Buildings that spark intrigue, create memories, and give people a reason to come back again and again.

This project is also about sustainability and resilience. We made the most of the existing fabric, cut waste, and designed for long-term flexibility. The result: 45% less carbon, Outstanding and Excellent ratings in progress, and a building that can evolve with the city.

But none of this happens in isolation. It takes a hugely collaborative team. Investors, occupiers, designers, contractors all pulling together with drive and passion. That’s the lesson here: if we get the right team and the right vision, we can turn heritage assets into anchors of the future city.

Oxford Street is changing fast. If we get it right, it will become more than a retail street, it will be an experience street, a place that defines London for the next hundred years.

How do you envision the future of your industry, and how do you hope to contribute to it?

BDP believes that cities are good for us, at least they can and should be. Today, mono-use retail schemes are giving way to a mixed-use future incorporating workplace, leisure, culture, living, and commerce within buildings that once served only a single purpose. By reimagining spaces previously occupied by pure retail within our cities, we create intensity, resilience, and authentic footfall. Retail thrives when it becomes part of a vibrant ecosystem, sharing energy with other uses rather than operating in isolation.

There is great potential in redefining the purpose of existing retail buildings that already exist in our cities. These structures hold stories of themselves, their streets, and the communities that have grown around them. By refurbishing and repurposing what we already have, we preserve the memory of place while opening doors to new forms of urban life. Retail spaces become storytellers, carrying the city’s past forward as they adapt to emerging needs.

Our approach is grounded in purposeful progress. We advocate for measured, targeted transformation. Every decision, especially when intervening in existing buildings, must bring real value while respecting sustainability and environmental responsibility. Repurposing is one of the most impactful tools we have for reducing carbon, minimising waste, and building responsibly.

In this vision, retail and retail spaces evolve from single-purpose destinations into dynamic contributors to urban life. They are custodians of memory, anchors of community, and catalysts for sustainable renewal. The future will be built by thoughtfully reimagining what already exists, allowing these places to continue telling the unfolding story of our cities.

What one word best summarises your entry?

Reimagineered