Pilbrow & Partners’ proposals to redevelop the flagship Oxford Street branch of Marks & Spencer are set to be approved by Westminster council tonight – if planning committee members follow officers’ advice.

The practice’s proposals would see the demolition of M&S’s main Orchard House building, which dates back to the 1930s, and two other connected structures, to make way for a new 10-storey mixed-use building featuring retail, office and restaurant space. An arcade would link Oxford Street to Granville Place at the north of the building.

The new building would have a gross internal area of 60,777sq m – almost double the 35,591sq m of floorspace provided by the structures it would replace. However the amount of retail space at the site would more than halve from 13,653sq m, with office space – at 45,621sq m – becoming the dominant use.

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