Former Oxford Corner House

Reasons for Designation

14-16 Oxford Street, the former Oxford Corner House has been designated for the following principal reasons: * of special historic interest as one of London's three famous Lyons Corner Houses, of which two survive. The Corner Houses were the crowning glory of the Lyons enterprise, a massive commercial and social phenomenon of the early C20 which reached its zenith in the inter-war years. They caught the public imagination, and still have iconic status in living memory; * despite the loss of the Bernard interiors, the south and east frontages have special architectural interest as one of the best surviving and most-richly detailed examples of the Beaux-Arts Lyons 'house style' developed by FJ Wills. In the broader context of inter-war commercial architecture, this is an accomplished example of the Beaux Arts genre; * strong townscape interest among the diverse commercial buildings of Oxford Street and group value with nearby buildings.

Details

1900/1/10405 OXFORD STREET 27-OCT-09 (North side) 14-16 Former Oxford Corner House

II Former Lyons Corner House restaurant. Built 1926-7 to the design of FJ Wills, house architect of J Lyons and Co. Interior reconstructed 1993-5 and not of special interest.

MATERIALS: Steel-frame construction faced in white faience: "Burmantoft's Marmo" by the Leeds Fireclay Company; rear elevation in brown brick

PLAN: The building has an irregular footprint which wraps around the corner block of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. It has three elevations: the principal entrance (south) in Oxford Street, a second one in Tottenham Court Road (east)and a third to Hanway Street (north). As built, the plan comprised a ground-floor food hall and restaurants in the basement, ground and first floors. This plan no longer survives.

EXTERIOR: S and E elevations are grandly designed in a complementary Beaux-Arts classical style with richly-moulded faience detailing and decorative metalwork.

S elevation: three storeys plus attic, five bays. Ground floor has modern shop fronts but the main structure survives. three bays, comprising broad central bay flanked by smaller ones, separated by piers. Above this the façade is little altered, with original metal framed casement windows. Outer bays of first and second floors break forward slightly with windows set in full-height panels. Tall first-floor windows with cornices; casements have decorative panels above. Central window set within aedicule with fluted columns and segmental pediment broken by an elaborate cartouche flanked by torches. Second floor has central winged cartouche. Above second floor is a frieze-cum-loggia. In front of this is a scrolled metal grille which originally bore the name 'Corner House'; this has three ornate coloured panels in the form of stylised bouquets. Above is a deep modillion cornice. The stepped attic storey has a central Diocletian window and metal grille with reticulated pattern.

E Elevation: Ground floor shop front altered. Above this level, similar treatment to E elevation but of three storeys and three bays, articulated by full-height narrow panelled pilasters with stylised capitals. Here, the central first-floor bay is tripartite, with fluted columns and triangular pediment broken by cartouche with festoons and garlands. Second floor has recessed balcony with metal balustrade decorated with bouquet motif; unglazed openings to outer windows have similar decorative treatment. Frieze has central cartouche with urns. Stepped parapet with recessed central bay.

N Elevation is in a complementary Classical style in brown brick, but is not of special interest.

INTERIOR: The interior bears no resemblance to its original form, and is not of special interest. Although some art-deco features were reputed to survive prior to the 1993-5 refurbishment, there is little visible evidence of this.

HISTORY: Established in 1889 by Isidore and Montague Gluckstein, Barnett Salmon and Joseph Lyons, J Lyons & Co became one of the largest catering and food manufacturing companies in the world. The first Lyons teashop opened in London at 213 Piccadilly in 1894; by 1900 37 teashops had been opened in London plus 15 elsewhere, the forerunners of some 250 premises nationally with their familiar white and gold signage. They also catered for the top end of the scale, building the exclusive Trocadero restaurant in Shaftesbury Avenue in 1896, but their success lay in identifying a major niche in the market arising from the paucity of mass catering in London. Hitherto, eating out in the West End was confined either to expensive restaurants or downmarket chop houses or taverns. The 'Joe Lyons Corner Houses' and teashops with their uniformed waitresses - 'Nippies' - became a by-word for good-quality food at reasonable prices, and rigorous standards of service and hygiene, set in stylish, and in the case of the corner houses, opulent surroundings. Now 'respectable' clients of modest means, not least the burgeoning number of office employees including increasing numbers of single women, and suburban housewives on shopping trips, could lunch, take tea or dine in comfort. All-night cafés operated too. Set out on several floors with a ground-floor food hall, they boasted vast dining rooms, each decorated in a different style; customers were entertained by light orchestras (the company had its own orchestra department) and sometimes by flamenco dancers or 'Gipsy' bands; there were hair salons, theatre booking agencies and food delivery services. Lyons Tea (from their own estates in Nyasaland) was said to be the best available. All this was supported by a highly-organised factory system in and outside London. After the war, Lyons began a new venture: the Steak Houses, followed by Wimpy Bars, but changing eating habits meant that the company fell into decline. It was sold to Allied Breweries in 1978.

The first 'Corner House' was built in 1909 in Coventry Street (qv) and extended by Wills in 1921-3; the second in the Strand, now demolished. The Oxford was the third. There were also two 'Maison Lyons' (virtually identical to corner houses but under a different management structure): at Shaftesbury Avenue (1915) and Marble Arch (1933). The latter, along with the three Corner Houses, became known as 'the four Corners of London'; 'meet me at the Corner House' was a household phrase.

The Oxford Corner House occupied the site of the Oxford Music Hall. It boasted a ground-floor food hall and restaurants at basement, ground and first floor, a spectacular staircase and lavish restaurant interiors designed by Oliver Bernard. Over 550 tons of different coloured marble are said to have been used; the most remarkable feature was a series of 20ft (6m) high marble murals depicting mountains, trees and waterfalls. In the 1950s the building was altered and subdivided. In 1967 it was sold to Mecca Leisure, and became the Virgin Megastore in the 1980s. The interior was then radically altered internally.

SOURCES: The New Oxford Corner House, Building, June 1928, pp 273-280 http://www.kzwp.com/lyons/

REASON FOR DESIGNATION: 14-16 Oxford Street is listed for the following principal reasons: * of special historic interest as one of London's three famous Lyons Corner Houses, of which two survive. The Corner Houses were the crowning glory of the Lyons enterprise, a massive commercial and social phenomenon of the early C20 which reached its zenith in the inter-war years. They caught the public imagination, and still have iconic status in living memory; * despite the loss of the Bernard interiors, the south and east frontages have special architectural interest as richly-detailed examples of Wills' work for Lyons and Co, encapsulating the Lyons house style. In the broader context of inter-war commercial architecture, this is an accomplished example of the Beaux Arts genre; * strong townscape interest among the diverse commercial buildings of Oxford Street.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

504673

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Building in June 1928, (1928), 273-280

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