Agencies – Gaza Post
M&S announces recycling placement in Marble Arch redevelopment store
Marks & Spencer has announced that 95% of the materials used in the Marble Arch building on Oxford Street will be recovered, recycled or reused as it fights strong opposition to its plan to operate the store.
The retailer stated that some materials will be reused directly on site within the new building to promote the principles of the circular economy.
The former Communities Secretary announced an inquiry into the store’s future in June after outspoken opposition emerged to M&S’s plan to demolish the building, which was approved by the local council and the Greater London Authority.
The retailer said Westminster council continued to support the proposed plan but opponents included author Bill Bryson and architects including Stirling Prize winner Steve Tompkins and Mark Hynes.
Bryson donated GBP 500 to a fighting fund set up by the Save Britain’s Heritage campaign group, which has so far raised more than GBP 11,000 from its target of GBP 20,000.
M&S announces recycling placement in Marble Arch redevelopment store
The Marks & Spencer building is a model for the debate on the shift to rehabilitation, rather than demolition and reconstruction, in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of redevelopment amid the climate crisis.
Opponents say that the scheme firmed by Pilbrow & Partners will release almost 40 thousand tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
The group operations manager at M&S said that the new building will use less than a quarter of the energy of the current structure when completed. He added that Orchard House represents only 30% of the structures that have been demolished.
He said that the intensive renovation of buildings will be inclusive of more embodied carbon and leave the structural defects unaddressed which will limit the options to improve our energy use.
Moreover, to reducing carbon, our investment will provide a better place to shop for our customers, to work with our colleagues, and for our local community.
