Policy information sourced from Fitzrovia Area Action Plan

Great Russell Street Character Area

Great Russell Street is a relatively busy east-west route which changes in character along its length. There are a number of hotels in this area, as well as shops.

The building stock is mixed including Edwardian four-storey terraces, larger later 19th Century mansion blocks, the 1930s neo-Georgian Queen Mary Hall/ YWCA and the modernist Congress House trades union building. A number of Victorian timber shopfronts are retained on Great Russell Street. Building heights generally do not rise above 6 storeys, with the exception of the 13-storey St Giles Hotel. The St Giles Hotel presents a retail frontage to Tottenham Court Road, less active frontages to Great Russell Street and Bedford Avenue and a blank frontage to Adeline Place.

Bainbridge Street is fronted by the flank and rear walls of buildings creating a streetscape dominated by building services equipment, rubbish bins, roller shutter doors and garages. This street is a convenient cut through but feels unsafe in the evenings.

Although Great Russell Street and Bainbridge Street are included within the Fitzrovia AAP boundary, this character area is regarded as part of Bloomsbury.

Character Area Principles

Any development adjacent to the pedestrian route on private land between Adeline Place and Bainbridge Street adjacent to Queen Mary Hall/ YWCA Central Club should improve this route.

Any redevelopment of the St Giles Hotel should improve the street frontage, with the ground floor addressing the street and including active frontages along Tottenham Court Road and Great Russell Street. Blank frontages and large servicing areas should be avoided.

Developments on Bainbridge Street should be designed to provide an improved frontage to the street with minimal impact of building services and rubbish and recycling storage. Active frontages fronting Bainbridge Street will be supported to improve appearance, activity and safety of the street.

Public realm opportunities

In this character area we will take forward the following public realm opportunity identified by the Fitzrovia Open Space and Public Realm Study. This potential scheme will require further investigation including prioritisation against other proposals, identification of funding, transport assessment, consultation with key stakeholders and wider public consultation.

6.4 Great Russell Street

Create a widened footway along Great Russell Street by reclaiming carriageway space.

For more information please see the Area Action Plan