Historic England giving listed status to former department stores

Battle to save disappearing department stores: Historic England considers awarding protected status to a series of Brutalist and Art Deco shops after 50% closed over the last seven years

Heritage body Historic England is carrying out a review of former department stores that are under threat
It could lead to some of them getting listed status, which would offer protection against potential demolition
Earlier this month, the former John Lewis and Cole Brothers building in Sheffield was given listed status

Britain’s disappearing department stores could be given protected status as part of a review by Historic England.

The announcement from the heritage body comes amid widespread closures brought on in part by the coronavirus pandemic, economic upheaval and the shift by customers to online shopping.

According to campaigners, more than 50 per cent of department stores across the country have closed in the past seven years, leaving nearly two million square metres of retail space vacant and the original buildings under threat of demolition.

A Historic England spokesman said the body is reviewing department stores around the country, following an increase in requests for some of them to get listed status.

They said that whilst the review is at an ‘early stage’, it will help them to ‘understand the importance of surviving examples’.

Earlier this month, the Government agreed to Historic England’s recommendation to grant Grade II-listed status to the Brutalist former John Lewis and Cole Brothers building in Sheffield, after a 20-year fight by campaigners.

Another Brutalist building highlighted as being at risk by campaigners is Aberdeen’s Norco House – which was also occupied by John Lewis.

Other under-threat buildings identified by the Twentieth Century Society (C20) include former Debenhams outlets in Surrey and Somerset and Marks and Spencer’s flagship store on London’s Oxford Street.

The 1930s Art Deco-style Orchard House is set to be demolished along with two other buildings. M&S wants to replace the 91-year-old landmark store with a 10-storey building.

Vocal opposition prompted the then Communities Secretary Michael Gove to order an inquiry into the future of the store, but M&S insisted last week that they wished to press ahead with the project.

Britain’s disappearing department stores could be given protected status as part of a review by Historic England. A Brutalist former department store highlighted as being at risk by campaigners is Aberdeen’s Norco House – which was occupied by John Lewis

The Twentieth Century Society (C20) mentioned the former Hammonds building in Hull – which was occupied by House of Fraser until 2019 – in its campaign to save department stores. It features Art Deco styling

Earlier this month, the Government agreed to Historic England’s recommendation to grant Grade II-listed status to the Brutalist former John Lewis and Cole Brothers building (pictured) in Sheffield, after a 20-year fight by campaigners

As well as C20, campaigning group SAVE Britain’s Heritage has also called for buildings that have dominated towns and cities for decades to be saved.

Historic England’s review was welcomed by SAVE.

A BLOT ON THE LANDSCAPE OR A HISTORICAL TREASURE? NAVIGATING THE BRUTALIST CONCRETE JUNGLE

Spawned from the modernist architectural movement, Brutalism is a style of architecture defined by concrete fortress-like buildings which flourished between the 1950s and mid-1970s.

Brutalist architecture is loved and hated in equal measure, with plans to demolish the monolith structures often confronted with campaigns to save them.

Examples of the typically linear style include London’s Southbank Centre, which houses the Haywood Gallery, and the Grade-II listed Centre Point at the bottom of Tottenham Court Road.

Initially the style, which often features an ‘unfinished concrete’ look was used for government buildings, low-rent housing and shopping centres to create functional structures at a low cost, but eventually designers adopted the look for other uses including arts centres and libraries.

Critics of the style find it unappealing due to its ‘cold’ appearance, and many of the buildings have become symbols of urban decay, coated in graffiti.

Despite this, Brutalism is appreciated by others, with many buildings having received Listed status.

English architects Alison and Peter Smithson were believed to have coined the term in 1953, from the French béton brut, or ‘raw concrete’, although Swedish architect Hans Asplund clained he used the term in a conversation in 1950.

The term became more widely used in 1966 when British architectural critic Reyner Banham used it in the title of his book, The New Brutalism: Ethic Or Aesthetic?

Henrietta Billings, the organisation’s director, said: ‘These majestic and prestigious retail palaces that were built to impress and have stood the test of time through the quality of the architecture and the great fondness that people hold for them.

‘We hope this review will lead to more and urgent listings – meaning protection and national recognition – across the country.’

C20 has conducted its own review of former department stores as part of a campaign launched last April to save those which are under threat.

Buildings mentioned on its campaign page include the former Hammonds building in Hull, which was occupied by House of Fraser until 2019.

The building dates from 1952 after the original – constructed in 1916 – was destroyed by German bombs in the Second World War.

C20 say it is ‘strikingly European in style’ and ‘married classicism and modernism with triple height stone columns on the corner facade and Art Deco wavelets in the glazing.’

The imposing former John Lewis building in Aberdeen was built between 1966 and 1970, initially as a department sore for the Northern Co-operative society.

Named Norco House, it was bought in the 1980s by John Lewis, who refurbished and extended it. The outlet closed during the coronavirus lockdown and did not re-open once restrictions had eased.

John Lewis confirmed its permanent closure in July last year. The building was considered for listing in 2007 and 2019/2020 but was rejected on both occasions.

Debenhams outlets closed for the final time in May last year after the firm collapsed in 2020 was bought by online brand Boohoo.

C20 named several former Debenhams stores as being ‘still at risk’. One, in Taunton, Somerset, was built in the 19th century and was taken over by Debenhams in 1959.

C20 says of the building on its website: ‘While the front elevation is in a 1930s style, the Goodland Gardens facades are more typical of the 1960s, with extensive glazing and coloured panelling with concrete partitions.’

The charity strongly objected to a proposal to demolish the store and replace it with a block of 92 flats.

C20 is also objecting to proposals to demolish a former TJ Hughes outlet in Eastbourne.

The building dates from the 1920s but is currently empty and proposals have been submitted to knock it down and replace it with new shops and flats.

Another former Debenhams outlet, in Staines, Surrey, could also be demolished and turned into flats. C20 has rejected the proposal. In April, the building was added to a local list of buildings with architectural or historic interest.

Whilst Historic England makes listing recommendations, the ultimate decision is taken by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

They said earlier this month that they had made a recommendation to grant Grant Grade II listed status to Sheffield’s former John Lewis and Cole Brothers building.

A spokesman said the building is a ‘rare example of a post-war department store – designed by a leading mid-C20 firm of architects – with clean, crisp Modernist lines and a sophisticated layout for shoppers.

‘It stood out from the crowd and contributed to the city of Sheffield’s vision for a vibrant new environment for its residents,’ they added.

Speaking today of the review into other department stores, a spokesman said: ‘We are researching the history of department stores to provide a national overview of the key architectural and historic phases of their development.

This former TJ Hughes outlet, in Eastbourne, which dates from the 1920s, is under threat of demolition. The former outlet is empty and a planning proposal has been submitted to knock the building down

C20 named several former Debenhams stores as being ‘still at risk’. One, in Taunton, Somerset, was built in the 19th century and was taken over by Debenhams in 1959

‘This will help us to understand the relative importance of surviving examples to inform our listing assessments and our recommendations which go to government.

‘This is in response to the changes in retailing which have seen stores close and an increase in requests for them to be considered for listing.

‘This is preliminary work, in advance of a potential wider thematic research report on department stores being commissioned. It is at an early stage so we don’t yet know if it will lead to any proposals to list further examples.’

Last week, M&S pledged that 95 per cent of the materials in its existing flagship store on Oxford Street would be recovered, recyled or re-used as it fought back against the fierce opposition to proposals to demolish the existing building.

In May, Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud and comedian Griff Rhys Jones were among 27 influential figures who signed an open letter to Communities Secretary Michael Gove calling for him to launch a probe of M&S’s plans.

They said the building’s demolition would ‘pump nearly 40,000 tonnes of C02 into the atmosphere’.

Mr Gove then announced an inquiry into the future of the store in June, when he was still in his post as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

According to the Guardian, Sacha Berendji, the group director of M&S, said last week the new building will use less than a quarter of the energy of the current structure.

He added that Orchard House, the 1929 Portland Stone building that is at the heart of the firm’s refurbishment plan, represented just 30 per cent of the structures being demolished.

‘Even a heavy refurbishment of the buildings would involve more embodied carbon and leave structural flaws unremedied, limiting our options to improve energy usage,’ he said.

The letter signed by Mr McCloud and Mr Rhys Jones, who is also the president of the Victorian Society, argued that the building could remain standing ‘for another 100 years or more’ if planners make use of ‘design ingenuity’.

They want the existing building to be retrofitted rather than pulled down and replaced with a new one.

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