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:''This article is about the Regent Street in London. For other Regent Streets see Regent Street (disambiguation)''.

'Regent Street' is a major shopping street and thoroughfare in London's West End. Named after the Prince Regent (later George IV), it was built by John Nash as part of a ceremonial route from the Regent's residence at Carlton House in St James's to Regent's Park. Starting as ''Lower Regent Street'' at its intersection with Charles II Street and Waterloo Place, it runs north to Piccadilly Circus then becomes ''Regent Street'' by turning westward, and curves around in a quarter-circle until it is heading north once more. It then continues past Oxford Circus becoming ''Upper Regent Street'' and ends at its intersection with Langham Place, Cavendish Place and Mortimer Street.
There is a yearly Regent Street Festival, and the Christmas light displays are a London tradition, with a "celebrity" being chosen annually to ceremonially light them up. In recent years, the Christmas lights have been used predominantly as just another advertising venue, usually for films aimed at a younger audience. As well as shops, there is a large amount of office accommodation on the upper floors of the buildings. The street features as one of the locations on the standard London version of the Monopoly board game.

Contents

History

20th century redevelopment

Selected shops and other places of note

Apple retail store

Austin Reed

Broadcasting House

Dickins & Jones

Hamleys

Liberty

Oxford Circus tube station

The Crown Estate redevelopment

Trivia

Notes

Reference

External links

History

Regent Street was named after the Prince Regent (later George IV) and formed part of the 1811 town plan prepared by John Nash to develop a ceremonial route from the Regent's residence at Carlton House in St James's to the newly developed Regent's Park. The street still belongs to The Crown Estate, which keeps its offices adjacent to the street.^[1]
Nash planned a wide boulevard with a sweeping curve. The optimum use of pockets of Crown Estate land meant that the New Street (as Regent Street was initially known) contained a number of twists; where Portland Place joins Langham Place, and where the street enters Piccadilly Circus. The street was completed in 1825 and was an early example of town planning in England: until this point, London had grown somewhat randomly. Nash saw New Street as a clear dividing line between Soho, which was considered less than respectable, and the fashionable squares and streets of Mayfair.

20th century redevelopment

By the end of the 19th century at a time when the first leases were expiring many of the retailers in Regent Street wished to rebuild. There were three main reasons for this: first, Nash’s buildings were not of the highest quality, utilising stucco render and composition to imitate stonework; secondly, many of the buildings had already been extensively extended and were structurally suspect; thirdly, they were too small and old fashioned for the type of retail uses which were becoming popular as bespoke shopping died out.
The first redevelopment was of Regent House, just south of Oxford Circus. However, the stylistic tone for the rebuilding was set by Sir Reginald Blomfield’s Quadrant, which followed the construction of the Piccadilly Hotel, designed by Richard Norman Shaw, which opened in 1908.
Although reconstruction was driven by the need to increase the size of the shops, to meet the Edwardian aspiration for department stores, the work was delayed by the Great War and it was not until 1927 that the completion was celebrated, with King George V and Queen Mary driving in state along its length.
Regent Street is an example of Beaux Arts ‘façadism’, an architectural set piece designed to impress as it unfurls before the visitor. It is a medley of related styles and decoration, with each building having been designed individually but within strict guidelines. Each block was required to be designed with a continuing unifying façade to the street, regardless of the number of sub-divisions behind the main elevation, and they had to be finished in Portland stone with a uniform cornice level.
All the buildings in Regent Street are listed as being at least Grade II status and together they form the Regent Street Conservation Area.^[2]
On 6 July 2004, half a million people crowded into Regent Street and the surrounding streets to watch a parade of Formula 1 cars. The success of this event has led to speculation regarding the possibility of a London Grand Prix.

Selected shops and other places of note

Apple retail store

The Apple retail store opened on Regent Street at 10am on 20 November 2004. At the time this represented the first such store in Europe, and only the fourth outside the United States (the preceding three are in Japan, and since then many more have opened outside the United States). The Apple Store Regent Street is the largest Apple retail venue by floor area (a title in which for a period was owned by the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York City until a refurbishment in late 2006).

Austin Reed

Austin Reed's flagship store is located at 103-113 Regent Street. The store has an atrium at its centre, housing glass lifts allowing viewing across all floors. The lower ground floor sells womenswear and also houses Austin's, the refurbished 1920’s Art Deco Barber Shop, offering a full range of hair, face and body treatments for both men and women.

Broadcasting House

The BBC's headquarters are in Broadcasting House, whose front entrance is in Langham Place but easily visible from Regent St. Indeed, most Londoners think of Broadcasting House as marking the top end of Regent Street. Several national radio stations broadcast from this 1930s Art Deco building.

Dickins & Jones

In June 2005 owner House of Fraser announced that the department store Dickins & Jones, which traces its origins to 1803 and had been located in Regent Street since 1835, would close in January 2006. The store was said to have been making losses for several years and to have failed to keep up with more fashion-conscious rivals such as its neighbour Liberty. The building is currently being redeveloped with small shop units on the lower floors and flats and offices above. [1]

Hamleys

Hamleys toy shop can be found 100 yards south of Oxford Circus on the east side of the road. Until the 1990s it was the world's largest toy store (now Toys "R" Us, in New York), with six floors devoted to playthings. The fifth floor was recently opened with an open cafe. The ground floor is always decked out with a variety of soft toys, from small puppets to life-sized giraffes, and demonstrators.

Liberty

Liberty is a department store known for its Art Nouveau styles.

Oxford Circus tube station

Oxford Circus is the junction where Regent Street crosses Oxford Street, and the site of one of the busiest of London's underground stations. The Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines all meet here.

The Crown Estate redevelopment

Since the turn of the millennium, the Crown Estate has embarked on a major redevelopment programme in Regent Street and some of its side streets. This involves replacing some of the smaller shops with larger units. More importantly from a commercial point of view, many of the early 20th century offices, which typically for that era have many corridors and small individual offices, are being replaced with the open plan accommodation which is now required by tenants. This is being done by completing stripping out the interiors and rebuilding behind retained facades.
The Crown Estate moved its own headquarters from Carlton House Terrace to Regent Street in 2006.
The largest element of the plan is the reconstruction of the Quadrant at the southern end of the street close to Piccadilly Circus. In addition to shops and offices, a five star hotel and a small number of flats will be created here.

Trivia

The photograph for the album cover of ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' by David Bowie was shot in 'Heddon Street', just off Regent Street.
'Nearest tube stations'

★ Oxford Circus tube station

★ Piccadilly Circus tube station

Notes

1. ''New York Times'', "Windows Opening on the Royal Family’s Wealth", July 15, 2007
2. The Architecture of Regent Street

Reference

★ ''The Architecture of Regent Street'', The Crown Estate, London, 2005

External links

★ http://www.regentstreetonline.com/

★ http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/