We work with our partners to deliver new public realm projects to enhance London’s West End.

Improve.
Transform.
Enliven.

Find out about our transformation projects that are currently underway or recently completed.

Bond Street

Carried out over an 18-month period, the £10 million public realm improvement scheme was completed in 2018.

Delivered by New West End Company in partnership with Westminster City Council, Transport for London, Publica, NRP and FM Conway-WSP and supported by major Bond Street retailers and property owners, the project has completely transformed the public space across Old and New Bond Street, helping strengthen its position as the global centre of luxury retail.

Watch the video showing the project works and completion below.

Oxford Street Programme

In June 2023 Westminster City Council launched its new proposals for a more focused approach to delivering improvements for Oxford Street.

The new proposals will prioritise reviving Oxford Street with a combination of council and private sector funding. The scope of the works, extending from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road​, will respond to the changing needs and interests of residents, visitors and businesses.

Westminster City Council are focused on delivering a better-quality public realm, improving pedestrian comfort and safety, and ensuring that Oxford Street remains an attractive, diverse hub of activity and culture.

Find out more information on the proposals here: https://oxfordstreetprogramme.co.uk/

The Elizabeth Line

The £18 billion Elizabeth line has transformed the traffic and pedestrian flow in the West End with over 100 million people using the new stations at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road since opening in 2022.

The Elizabeth line marks the beginning of a new era for the West End and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform public realm in the area to strengthen its position as the number one global retail and leisure destination.

Hanover Square

We have supported Westminster City Council on a project to transform Hanover Square into an internationally significant public space and support the economic growth of the surrounding area. Over £13million has been spent to achieve the transformation, with significant funding contributed by the private sector.

In September 2021 the newly transformed gardens were opened to the public with a beautiful new design and planting. The new scheme for the gardens includes musical railings, a water feature, and festive lighting.

In April 2023, the completed Hanover Square was formally opened, and the new Landline Sculpture unveiled by the artist Sean Scully.

The pedestrian space has been improved to ensure it can accommodate the increase in pedestrian numbers resulting from the opening of the new Elizabeth line station entrance to Bond Street Station at Hanover Square.

Publica developed the urban design for Hanover Square for Westminster City Council in association with transport consultants Norman Rourke Pryme, landscape architect Dr Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, and with WSP as project engineers.

Public Art

In Hanover Square artist Sean Scully RA was commissioned by New West End Company to produce a sculpture inspired by the gardens and the redesign of the Square.

Landline was unveiled in April 2023 to mark the formal completion of Hanover Square, one of the oldest and most important civic spaces in London. The work is the artist’s first permanently installed sculpture in London.

The sculpture brings together layers of coloured marble into a single compressed tower that reflects the deep layers and sediments of history and lived experiences of the diverse people that Hanover Square and London’s West End represents. The selected marbles translate the layered landscape of Hanover Square itself, the new gardens and surrounding buildings – the grey, sand and ochre of the footways and buildings, and the greens and blue-greens of the trees. Together they create a chord that reflects the musical history of the area – the Hanover Music Rooms and Handel’s connections with Brook Street and St George’s Church.

The sculpture is located on the south side of the Square - guiding members of the public towards Mayfair’s Gallery Quarter and the Royal Academy of Arts.

Additional public art installations we have commissioned in the district include the Horse and Rider sculpture by Elizabeth Frink RA to a site in the town square on Bond Street and in Burlington Gardens, to support the completion of the public realm scheme, students from the RA Schools competed to design a sculpture which transformed the much loved row of telephone boxes outside the RA’s entrance. The ‘SOS’ sculpture has now been in place for 2 years, but will be replaced shortly by another student transformation on this rolling programme.

East Mayfair

Improving the public realm in the East Mayfair area and reinforcing the setting of the area as the centre of the London art world.

These works support the area during a time of considerable change, with the coming of the Elizabeth line, the opening of the new Royal Academy building and entrance on Burlington Gardens, and the regeneration of the galleries and associated uses on Cork Street.

The first phases of the scheme have included a renovation of the public realm on Savile Row, Cork Street, and Cork Street Mews. In October 2021 the works on Burlington Gardens were completed, seeing the area transformed into a civic space by facilitating the shared use of the street by pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles.

In August 2023 works on Clifford Street and Old Burlington Street were also completed, with new footways and benches. The trees in Old Burlington Street form part of the Queen’s Green Canopy

The next phase of work on Vigo Street is currently underway, and will open to the public at the end of the 2023.

Soho Photography Quarter

In June 2022 the Soho Photography Quarter was launched presenting free open-air exhibitions and projections highlighting the very best of contemporary photography across Ramilies Street, Ramilies Place and Hill Place.

The Quarter is an initiative of The Photographers’ Gallery (TPG) in partnership with Westminster City Council (WCC).  It has been designed by Andreas Lechthaler Architecture, as part of Westminster City Council’s ambitious plans to invigorate the Oxford Street area; the newly pedestrianised space offers sculptural seating areas, trees, planters and a twice-yearly exhibition programme for visitors to enjoy.