South Molton Street Building

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South Molton Street Building by DSDHA, 2013
South Molton Street and Davies Street, Mayfair
London, September 2014

“The South Molton Street Building is a new mixed-use development located on Oxford Street, London’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, at the junction with South Molton Street and Davies Street. It is adjacent to Bond Street Underground Station, which will benefit from the arrival of Crossrail in 2018 and an influx of additional visitors to the area. The development replaces a former pub with a new high quality mixeduse building comprising retail, office space and residential. The six-storey building is the brand headquarters and flagship store for Bosideng, China’s largest retailer (which has over 4000 outlets in China), introducing the brand to an international audience. The design responds to the building’s unique location, its surrounding context within Mayfair and proximity to the historic route of the buried River Tyburn. Seeking to reflect the qualities of the area, it presents a contemporary sustainable architecture that embodies good design and craftsmanship. Sited within a Conservation Area and highly prominent from all sides, there are five separate approach routes to the South Molton Street Building. DSDHA has taken a three-dimensional approach based on the kinetic experience of seeing and walking past the building from different points of view. Bookending a pedestrianised street, the form of the building is created to improve the status of the address, and as the facade gracefully turns the curved corner facing Oxford Street it reveals greater transparency on the retail and residential floors, evoking a sense of movement and change across the elevation. From Davies Street, a distinct residential and commercial entrance is created to visually terminate the street when approached from Brook Street and Berkeley Square. The facade is composed of subtly varying profiled glazed terracotta tiles, designed specifically for the project in close collaboration with the manufacturer. Taking inspiration from the aqueous historic reference of the River Tyburn flowing along South Molton Street, the bespoke facade has been developed to create a perceived sense of movement or undulation as you pass by. The glazed battens are shaped to capture shadow and reflect light to create a dynamic and ever-changing elevation.” (The South Molton Street Building, Archello)