Policy information sourced from Fitzrovia Area Action Plan

Tottenham Court Road Character Area

Tottenham Court Road is a busy central London high street that operates as an extension to West End retailing.

Shops and other retail uses predominate at ground level with offices, institutions, three hotels and some flats above. The retail mix has a focus on consumer electronics to the south and furnishings further north. Cafes and sandwich shops catering to the lunchtime office workers are common at the northern end.

The building stock predominantly consists of large 20th century buildings, a notable example being the Heal’s store. Groups of older, finer grain 19th and early 20th century buildings, such as on the western side between Windmill Street and Whitfield Gardens, reflect the earlier development of the street.

Significant growth and regeneration is expected along Tottenham Court Road and it is the preferred location for large shops and food, drink and entertainment uses (see Principle 5 in part 4 of the Plan Land use principles).

Site Specific Principles

Development fronting Tottenham Court Road should support its role as a Central London Frontage and as a major retail destination. New development should provide high specification shop units to the Tottenham Court Road frontage with generous ceiling heights and attractive shopfronts.

We will consider serving a discontinuance notice to seek removal of the advertising hoarding in front of the deep shelter entrance on Tottenham Court Road (located south of 80-85 Tottenham Court Road) Any redevelopment of the area between the American Church and 80-85 Tottenham Court Road should remove the advertising hoarding.

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.

9.2 Space in front of the American Church

Create an improved public space in front of the American Church by adding seating and planting.

West End Project

The West End Project is being developed by Camden in partnership with Transport for London to deliver major public realm and transport improvements in Camden’s part of the West End. The project aims to create more civilised streets with less traffic, lower traffic speeds and better public spaces on the street.

The West End Project may include:

  • a more attractive Tottenham Court Road with wider footways and improved road safety for pedestrians;
  • introduction of two-way traffic on both Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street;
  • improved bus journey times, with buses arriving from and departing to the same destination using the same street;
  • a new strategic north/ south route for cyclists; and
  • new and improved public spaces including spaces at Euston Circus, Whitfield Gardens and Alfred Place.

During March 2014 the Council will carry out pre-engagement on proposals for the West End Project with community groups, landowners, businesses and other stakeholders. Wider public consultation will follow in June and July 2014. The West End Project will incorporate and build on the principles of the Tottenham Court Public Realm Strategy (as set out here) and advance them to a more detailed stage of design.

Tottenham Court Road Public Realm Strategy

The following strategy was developed as an input to the West End Project to provide an overall strategy for improving the Tottenham Court Road public realm. Should the West End Project not proceed this strategy may be drawn upon for any future public realm improvements along the road.

The public realm on Tottenham Court Road should provide:

  • continuous pavement on both sides of the road with generous width providing space for pedestrians,
  • raised pedestrian crossovers across side streets, and
  • a de-cluttered environment.

Northern Tottenham Court Road

Lunch time trade in the area is growing and moving about can be made more pleasant.

The pavement should be widened on the eastern side to provide sunlit café spaces and opportunities for additional street trees.

The main shopping streets

These areas contain large shopping units of a flagship or anchor size. There is a strong desire to move across the street to access these shops.

The pavement should be widened and clutter removed to make crossing the heart of Fitzrovia easier.

The North Square

This space is fronted by the Habitat and Heals buildings on the east side, architecturally the most significant buildings on the street. On the west side is the American Church and Whitfield Gardens.

Opportunities for imaginative public use can be accommodated within newly defined spaces. Additional seating and planting would add amenity value to the squares. The whole space should be treated as a single aesthetic element. To prioritise pedestrian use, the square should be raised.

The South Square

A larger space is created in this location by the setback of the Met Building, which is then framed by projecting historic buildings to the north and south.

The whole space should be treated as a single aesthetic element. To prioritise pedestrian use, the square should be raised, however the scheme should maintain adequate servicing arrangements to support the viable use of properties on Tottenham Court Road.

Entry to St Giles Circus

The south of Tottenham Court Road funnels visitors and is a gateway opportunity for design connecting into to redevelopment at St Giles Circus.

For more information please see the Area Action Plan