IKEA will open the doors of its Oxford Street store on Thursday 1st May, marking the completion of an extensive environmental upgrade of the Grade II listed building at 214 Oxford Street in central London.
The IKEA Oxford Street store promises to offer "the traditional IKEA experience", and will span three floors of the seven-storey building, comprising the ground and two lower ground floors, with a retail space of 5800 sqm.
Peter Jelkeby, CEO and chief sustainability officer, IKEA UK, says: “Whether a local Londoner or a tourist passing through, IKEA Oxford Street aims to inspire home dreams for everyone – offering beautifully designed, functional furnishings at prices affordable for as many people as possible, ensuring visitors leave with ideas and solutions that make everyday life at home a little better.”
Upon entering the ground level, visitors will step into a London-inspired space with "expansive home inspiration, alongside curated shops co-created with Londoners to reflect the city – and IKEA’s – unique character and style", says the retailer.
"Taking the escalator one floor down, shoppers will discover inspirational and innovative roomsets. A specially designed home-planning hub will offer complimentary one-to-one design consultations with IKEA home furnishing experts, helping customers realise their perfect kitchen or optimise their bedroom storage. The floor is also home to the 130-seater Swedish Deli, where visitors can take a break to enjoy IKEA's beloved classics.
"The retail journey culminates on the lowest floor in the market hall, where customers will find a curated selection of 3500 affordable home furnishing accessories and small furniture available for immediate purchase. A compact self-serve area houses smaller pieces of furniture for customers to take home in the iconic blue FRAKTA bag. For any larger furniture pieces which won’t fit into a FRAKTA, or to purchase any other product in IKEA’s 10,000-strong range, this can be done in-store for delivery or collection from a broad network of pick-up points."
Peter continues: “We have worked carefully to ensure we maintain the character of this historic building whilst creating a modern retail environment for customers to explore and be inspired.
“London is an iconic shopping destination, and we are thrilled to now have a home in its centre. IKEA Oxford Street’s location complements our network of stores in London – and beyond – and allows us to be closer to where our customers live, work and shop, while importantly being easily accessible by foot or public transport. We look forward to welcoming you in.”
The store's opening follows a three-year renovation, which included complex work to enhance environmental performance while preserving the building's heritage features. In addition to the IKEA store, the building will accommodate three other retail outlets and offer four floors of office space.
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of IKEA UK's parent company and owner of the building, has overseen this comprehensive transformation. It includes replacing traditional fossil fuel gas-fired boilers with energy-efficient air source heat pumps, installing secondary glazing for improved insulation, carrying out cleaning and restoration of the building's historic facade, and a sympathetic lighting scheme to illuminate the building at night.
"A crowning achievement of the renovation has been the refurbishment of the fourth floor's original Victorian roof lantern," says Ingka. "This architectural feature has been meticulously restored and protected with a new contemporary covering, ensuring its preservation for future generations whilst improving the building's energy efficiency.
"The building's iconic heritage lift lobbies, serving the office floors, have also undergone detailed restoration, with modern mechanisms integrated to meet current safety standards whilst maintaining their original aesthetic charm."
Upon completion, Ingka Investments is hopeful to achieve the BREEAM 'Outstanding' rating for the store – the highest possible assessment level for building sustainability.
IKEA Oxford Street will open on 1st May, following the closure of the Hus of FRAKTA pop-up concept store on 23rd March. The store will be open daily from 10am-8pm.
