Journal of Architectural Conservation
Volume 16, Issue 2, July 2010
The Construction of the Classical Elevations of Selfridges Store, Oxford Street, London: An Appraisal
Michael Beare
Paper Summary
This paper is concerned with the construction of, and the maintenance work to, the principal façades of Selfridges department store in Oxford Street, London W1. Although these façades present a visually uniform, classical, beaux arts appearance, the phased nature of the original development resulted in significantly different constructional forms being adopted, which in turn posed different challenges for maintaining the fabric.
Irrespective of the particular construction forms used for the façades, the overriding goals for the maintenance project were to ensure the safety of the public and to conserve the historic fabric in a sensitive way, thus safeguarding it for now and for the future. The paper discusses the use of cathodic protection systems on the steel framework of the Selfridges building and demonstrates the potential for the principles adopted in this project to be applied to other steel frames located behind masonry constructions elsewhere in the world.
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Figure 3 Part elevation on Oxford Street showing the giant order Ionic columns.
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Michael Beare BSc CEng MICE FIStructE CARE Eur Ing
He is a director of AKS Ward, Consulting Engineers and has been working on the maintenance and restoration of steel-framed buildings behind masonry elevations since 1975. He has written papers on the subject and given many lectures on the problems associated with these types of buildings. Appointed by Selfridges & Co Ltd to advise them on the condition of the classical elevations at their London store on Oxford Street, his team managed the technical assessment and management of the refurbishment.
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