BuckleyGrayYeoman has won planning consent for the refurbishment of the former Wickhams Department Store on the Mile End Road in London’s East End, on behalf of Resolution Property and Schroders REIM.
The Tower Hamlets planning committee’s decision gives the go-ahead to refurbish and extend the 1927 Beaux Arts building to create Department W: a modern, workspace-led, mixed use development of nearly 120,000 sq ft. BuckleyGrayYeoman’s refurbishment will add to the £1.5 million investment that has already been spent on the comprehensive refurbishment of the basement, ground and 1st floors of Department W to create a new community of tech businesses.
The plans will retain and conserve the Wickhams building’s famous ‘missing tooth’: the Spiegelhalter’s façade, which became the focus of a local conservation campaign when plans to refurbish the building were announced in early 2015. The Spiegelhalter’s façade will form the main entrance to Department W, with the void where the shop once stood forming a courtyard that will feature artwork to commemorate the unique story of the site.