Design by Jamie Fobert Architects [incorporating The Bowl by MightyMighty]; FDArchitecture were appointed as CA and Executive Architect to deliver the project to Selfridges by November 2018.

Selfridges’ Men’s Streetwear department occupies the last remaining interior of the original Selfridges building, dating back to 1909. Retention and then reinstatement of all the original cornicing, columns and capitals is brilliantly offset by the rugged, masculine aesthetic of the department design by JFA.

Comprised principally of disciplined arrays of raw aluminium floor and ceiling fixtures they allow for the original building detail to remain visible and be celebrated. This principle is reinforced by the rigorous and controlled arrangement of the exposed building services and lighting which both support and enhance the department.

The space also features the bold use of natural daylighting across both elevations and some fun and surprising ‘Instagram-able’ moments too, not least the custom Land Rover squarely placed in the middle of the space. To achieve this the chassis was first hoisted up the exterior of the building and passed through a window before the car could be hand-built in the middle of the building site.

Rivalling this, a dramatic wooden skate bowl, good enough to draw droves of dedicated skaters from across the country, sits in the corner with Duke Street and Oxford Street and provides the whole space with its soundtrack and the skaters and shoppers alike with a unique experience.