M&S Oxford Street London

Whilst sitting on the train en route to London, I noticed several articles on Michael Grove’s departments' decisions to block the demolition of the M&S flagship store. It's clearly a controversial matter, many are for it, and many are against it.

I did not think much more about it, arrived at Euston, looked at my watch thought that I was a little short on time to do my usual walk to Kensington. It's a great walk if you have time, and there are plenty of sites to see along the way. It's even lovely in the rain and beats the sweaty tube any day! (To be honest, I try to treat my days in London as a bit of a treat with some work along the way). Faced with my dilemma, I decided to try a Boris bike. I must admit the experience was a bike different to my usual whip, it's a BMX that's suited to a skate park, but in all fairness, the bike rode exceptionally well; the tires were full of air, it rode straight, ok you don't get a helmet, but I wasn't planning on ride a half pipe and it was less risky than a cheese and wine party at number 10 (not that I attended).

Slightly downhill through Marylebone, I passed Bond Street Station and arrived on Oxford St to pass Marks & Spencer with its 1920’s art deco facade. A significant contrast to the orange bricks next door, the traffic lights turned red and being a sensible cyclist, I stopped for the red light, looked around and took a quick photo (sorry, I am no David Bailey or Peter Coulson) as I am sure you will appreciate, it's a significant contrast and much like a BMX, I am sure those bricks were rad in the 80’s or early 90’s.

I then moved on to Hyde Park, trying to practice manuals whilst secretly waiting for the Voodoo Brass Band joggers to join me (sadly, they failed to find me). I then passed Hyde Park Corner, moving into Knightsbridge and South Kensington; when passing the Albert Hall and the National History Museum, it then dawned on me, what if they had knocked these magnificent buildings down? What would they have put back in their place? Concrete structures clad with the cheapest available product, glass curtain walled structures? Buildings of limited architectural value?

Now going back to M&S, it's a british retail stalwart. Unless you are upper middle class or upper class, it's likely that at least your nan or mum and dad would have brought underwear from it at one time and let us not forget we all used to buy the dine-in meal deal in times gone by. Much like the stores previously owned by Mr Selfridge or Mr Al-Fayed is it not right that we should preserve elements of these buildings for future generations to see and enjoy?

Having enjoyed my relaxed commute to Kensington and time to let my mind wander, it hit me, on balance, is the answer for M&S Oxford Street, not a scheme that incorporates the facade and a new carbon-friendly interior, perhaps even a vertical extension that contrasts the new and the old? I am sure a solution can be found with a bit of imagination. I would hate to think about what's been spent on legal fees on this matter, surely, we need a system that enables parties to consider each other's views and to find a win-win solution for all.

It seems tolerance, compromise and understanding could be the answer.

This also applies to my day-to-day work, whether it's project work, quantity surveying, expert witness work or construction disputes, the problem and, more importantly, solutions require tolerance, compromise and understanding.

It's important to remember we all have bad days and other things happening in life, and sometimes we can get things wrong, and sometimes things just go wrong (well, if you're a bit like me, pretend that's the case, life is much better if you do!). Yes, problems will occur; we need to find ways to overcome them and move on to the next thing (hopefully, things we enjoy).

Any way heading back to Euston, the experience on the bike was significantly different. The bearings were grinding, the wheel slightly buckled, the tires underinflated, and it was slightly uphill. The same product (ok, the first bike may have been maintained more recently, and the second had been damaged), but a different experience, it took an extra few minutes to get back to the station, and as a result, I was charged an extra £1.65 for my journey. Am I going to complain about it? Not really. Would it be good to have feedback on the issues with the bike to improve the experience for the next user? Yes (perhaps this could be done via the app, I don't know, I have not used it). Would I do it again? Definitely (but perhaps not in the rain).

As for the demolition of M&S, where will your nan get her knickers from? And do we really want to remove significant parts of our past?

As for my rambling, thank you for tolerating this and getting this far. If you have not tried a Boris bike, try it, but perhaps take a helmet, especially if you take it to the skate park!