John Lewis starts work on a renovation of Peter Jones façade
John Lewis has begun work on a renovation of the façade of its Peter Jones shop in London’s Chelsea.
The retailer received planning permission for the works in May following a public consultation involving the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Cadogan Estates, Historic England, local residents and businesses.
The works will include a renovation of the store’s curved glass façade, ground floor shop windows, entrances and canopy and the introduction of a new, larger and more accessible entrance to the shop on King’s Road which will draw customers into the central atrium of the shop.
The retailer has also secured outline planning permission for opportunities in the future to reconfigure the sixth floor of the shop to include a dedicated restaurant, a food hall, interior conservatories, a viewing terrace and a horticultural concession selling plants from the John Lewis Partnership’s Leckford Estate.
John Lewis said there would also be potential to open up the seventh floor to give customers access to a garden terrace.
Pippa Wicks, executive director at John Lewis, said: “Our shops will always be important and this refurbishment forms part of our broader plans to rebalance our estate, which includes investing in our flagship stores. Peter Jones is widely seen as the birthplace of the John Lewis Partnership when it opened in 1935 and has served the community as the corner shop for Chelsea locals since the day it opened. We want to reinvigorate the shop as a public asset, loved by those who live next to it.”
