The Construction of the Classical Elevations of Selfridge Store, Oxford Street, London: An Appraisal.

This paper is concerned with the construction of, and the maintenance work to, the principal façades of Selfridges department store in Oxford Street, London W1. Although these façades present a visually uniform, classical, Beaux Arts appearance, the phased nature of the original development resulted in significantly different constructional forms being adopted, which in turn posed different challenges for maintaining the fabric. Irrespective of the particular construction forms used for the façades, the overriding goals for the maintenance project were to ensure the safety of the public and to conserve the historic fabric in a sensitive way, thus safeguarding it for now and for the future. The paper discusses the use of cathodic protection systems on the steel framework of the Selfridges building and demonstrates the potential for the principles adopted in this project to be applied to other steel frames located behind masonry constructions elsewhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]