Playboy Retail - Oxford Street Store Rebuild Case Study

Playboy recently opened their Flagship Store on Oxford Street in London. The opening was made in conjunction with Global Designer Brands (GDB) which owns and operates Playboy Concept Boutiques in Melbourne and Auckland. This is the first Playboy store of its kind in Europe, and the largest in the world.

The 4,000 square-foot store has three levels and offers Playboy’s iconic and stylish collections of fashion apparel, accessories, and home products. The design represents concepts that are inherent to the world-renowned Playboy brand. The location is design-driven, with unique fixtures and fittings purposely designed to reflect the Playboy lifestyle, including the Playboy Rabbit Head Design which the store features both on its façade and internally.

A Complete Rebuild and Refurbishment

This project was a major re-build and fit out of an old five-story retail premises at 153 Oxford Street in London.

When the store was acquired, it needed complete refurbishment. In fact, every element of the structure needed to be either refurbished or replaced from the basement upwards. Extensive renewal of the mezzanine floor levels to the rear of the building was also required. Cameron Barclay Consultancy was awarded the contract to refurbish and refit the complete store. An opening date had already been publicised so there was little room for manoeuvre.

A Solution Tuned by Design

Treatment of the public-facing parts of the store was design-led and bespoke. The main feature was to be a sweeping spiral staircase, from the basement to the first-floor, covered with stone steps. To facilitate and support the staircase, the building’s entire centre had to be removed and structurally supported until new steel girders could be fitted.

Once the staircase was in place the project was re-invigorated. With refurbishment of all floor areas, renewal of all services and decorations, renewal of the exterior mezzanine to support new air conditioning units at the rear of the building, and the façade, signage, fixtures, and fittings.

All of these tasks were completed in time for the official opening that was attended by Playboy’s CEO and Chairman, Christie Hefner, and a host of celebrities and Playboy Playmates.

Playboy on Cameron Barclay

"This project was particularly difficult for a number of reasons. The location on Oxford Street – which is the world’s busiest shopping street – was particularly challenging, and the structural fabric of the building was in need of a great deal of attention which ate into the project’s timescales.

Liaising with the architects and designers based in Sydney, Australia, with a 12-hour time-difference was another factor. Despite all of these difficulties, however, Cameron Barclay did as they always do; they came through on the day and have provided Playboy with a beautiful retail store that we can all be proud of.

This was probably the most complex shop refurbishment project that Oxford Street has seen for many years, and I am only too pleased that we entrusted Cameron Barclay Consultancy with the job of delivering this project."
Markus Grindel – Senior Vice President, Marketing Director, International Publishing – Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.