The comedian Griff Rhys Jones is the latest high-profile name to weigh in against Marks & Spencer’s plan to raze and redevelop its main London store, accusing the retailer of not making the most of its landmark building.
Jones, who presented the BBC TV series Restoration in the 2000s, which identified significant buildings in need of repair, told an inquiry into the development of the store on Oxford Street near Marble Arch that, having shopped there, he “would venture that M&S are not using the space in a very imaginative way compared to the possibilities old buildings offer. I wonder if the ‘unsuitability’ has more to do with the desire to create a much bigger floor space and offices.”
He added: “I’ve also been to [upmarket fashion emporium] Dover Street Market, which has moved into an old bank and is using the historic features with imagination to sell the most expensive clothes you’ve ever seen.”
Jones added that his work with the charity Civic Voice, which campaigns to make localities more attractive and distinctive, had shown him the importance to town centres in keeping buildings that marked them as a destination. He said: “Recycling good historic buildings should be at the heart of policy.”
A two-week planning inquiry began on Tuesday, pitting M&S against environmental campaigners and historical building fans, who argued that the 90-year-old landmark store should be refurbished rather than knocked down.
Other notable critics of the scheme have included the author Bill Bryson and architects including the Stirling prize winner Steve Tompkins and Mark Hines, the project director for the remodelling of BBC Broadcasting House.
The planning inquiry is the first related to a major building to put the carbon impact of redevelopment front and centre. Opponents of the redevelopment said the scheme, designed by the architecture firm Pilbrow & Partners, would release almost 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The hearings are being overseen by the planning inspector David Nicholson, who recently blocked the 305-metre Tulip tower in London, partly on the grounds that its “highly unsustainable” use of concrete might set a “gamechanging precedent”.
M&S argues that a refurbishment of the three poorly connected and low-ceilinged buildings that make up its Marble Arch store is unfeasible and would not achieve the kind of experience modern shoppers want – potentially forcing it to move away from Oxford Street, accelerating the area’s decline.
The street has already been hit by the departure of the major department stores Debenhams and House of Fraser and dozens of other smaller retailers, while many gaps have been filled by temporary outlets including controversial American candy shops.
