• The Ribbon completes the prominent corner of Oxford St and Wells Street in Fitzrovia with a contextual, highly crafted, brick-clad office building with ground floor retail.

• The redevelopment provides 74,000 sq ft NIA of office and 21,000 sq ft of retail space designed to the meet the highest expectations of the market.  An additional basement venue space of 5,000 sq ft will offer interactive and immersive experiences.

• Orms’ ultrapractical approach to the architecture of the building uses modern off-site construction methods to realise a crafted contemporary brick façade influenced by the history and surroundings of Wells Street.

Construction work has completed on The Ribbon, a 100,000 sq ft office-led development designed by Orms for M&G Real Estate and CBRE Development Management (DM). The new building, located at a major entry point to Fitzrovia at the corner of Oxford Street and Wells Street provides flagship retail space and a basement venue beneath seven floors of office accommodation, reflecting the mix of uses present on Oxford Street.

Orms’ “deep assignment” approach led to the design of a brick-clad building with architectural features drawing on the rich cityscape and history of the site and the surrounding neighbourhood. The practice’s highly contextual, contemporary solution enabled a nine-storey redevelopment that significantly improves the appeal of the building for office occupiers and retailers on Oxford Street.

In March 2026, M&G Real Estate and CBRE DM announced that all 21,000 sq ft of retail space at the Ribbon had been leased by Warner Bros. to create a flagship Harry Potter retail store over two floors.  The new store will open in Autumn 2026.

Colin McColl, Director at Orms, said:

“The Ribbon is a building that celebrates the variety and vibrancy of Oxford Street and Fitzrovia. A headquarters office building with a basement venue space, flagship retail space on the lower ground, ground and first floors, and roof terraces on the upper floors.

“We’ve drawn on features and forms from the outstanding buildings in the local area, including the Mappin & Webb building and the Pantheon, to create a brick façade with rich architectural detail that was enabled by off-site prefabrication. The Ribbon is a building where each carefully considered detail collectively creates something greater than the sum of parts: from the crisp-edged brick with colour-matched mortar to the patinated copper panels of the reception and mezzanine touchdown space.

From Oxford Street, The Ribbon is distinguished by its exceptional red-brick cladding, with deeply articulated brick piers framing glazed bays topped by semicircular arches to create a sense of weight, quality and presence for the building. The use of brick was inspired by Wells Street’s namesake, George Wells, a brickmaker who occupied the east of the street in the early 1600s. The repeating arch-topped bays onto Oxford Street are set out to the same proportions as those on the Mappin & Webb building. Details highlighted black granite and green glazed terracotta draw from the nearby Pantheon Building, as well as the historic textile trades of the area.

Orms selected an Ibstock Heritage Red Blend paired with a colour-matched mortar that accentuates the sculptural articulation of the façade, which reads as a single form when viewed from a distance. During the careful selection of a sharp, square-edged brick, a priority was made to choose a material that could be cut to give two good faces, meaning, where possible, both halves could be used. The care taken in material selection led to reductions in cost, waste and the carbon emissions associated with excessive material use.

The level of detailing to the façade, which includes corbelled brickwork, protruding bricks and hit-and-miss sections, as well as mullion, cill and reveal details accentuated by green-glazed terracotta tiles, was made possible by off-site prefabrication. Bricks were laid up horizontally by hand before being set into a concrete doughnut panel that could be craned into place on site. The use of prefabrication resulted in a significant reduction in time on site, with the prefabricated façade taking just 18 weeks to install.

In Adam and Eve Court, artist Ian Kirkpatrick has created an artwork inspired by local history to enliven the pedestrian footpath. The artwork features two large scale images measuring over 4.5m tall which highlight key people, events and stories from the past and present of Fitzrovia, offering visitors a unique look into the neighbourhood’s fascinating character.

Internally, The Ribbon reflects the diverse uses of Oxford Street and Fitzrovia, with a stack of uses led by grade-A office space across the majority of the nine-storey building. This sits above flagship retail units and a venue in the basement that can support the night-time economy of the West End.

The double-height reception space features a wrap-around mezzanine set aside as a touch-down working space for visitors to the building. The mezzanine is edged by a metal balustrade designed with a woven ribbon motif. Full-height panels of patinated copper frame the entrance to the building and fold into the reception space, a material reference to the Verdigris elements of nearby buildings such as Mappin and Webb. The reception space sits below a structural vaulted concrete soffit which is a signature visual feature for the space.

On the office floors, extensive glazing sets the tone for a modern workplace characterised by access to natural light and outdoor space. At each floor from level six to nine, the building steps back to create a series of roof terraces for the occupants of those floors. All occupants of the building will have access to a 250-person rooftop terrace with an amenity pavilion and extensive planting.

A brick cornice separates the façade of the upper levels, which are visually lighter than the heavy brick facades of the lower floors, with a lightweight aluminium curtain walling façade accentuated by dormer windows picked out by frames of Verdigris copper.

The Ribbon will be Net Zero Carbon in Operation achieving NABERs 5*, WELL Platinum, BREEAM Outstanding, Smart Enabled and EPC Rating A.