The Rathbone Square office from Great Portland Estates plc - mixed-use calm off Oxford Street

Reviewed: ad hoc news Classics & Longseller desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-29, 08:04. Details in the imprint.

The Rathbone Square office from Great Portland Estates plc hides in plain sight behind the noise of Oxford Street, with a quiet courtyard where you hear footsteps on stone more clearly than traffic. Glass, brick and trees wrap around desks, meeting rooms and terraces.

How Rathbone Square is laid out

Rathbone Square is a mixed-use site in Fitzrovia with office floors arranged around a central landscaped courtyard that stays open to the public during the day. Tenants walk through a short passage from the busy street into a space that feels more like a campus than a traditional city block.

The office element sits above and alongside retail and residential units, with separate lobby entrances and lifts so workers and residents do not share crowded corridors. On a typical weekday morning, you see people with coffee cups crossing the courtyard under tidy rows of trees before disappearing into glass-fronted receptions.

What the offices offer inside

Inside the Rathbone Square office floors, Great Portland designed large, flexible floorplates that tenants can divide into open-plan zones, cellular offices or collaborative areas without running into awkward structural columns. Floor-to-ceiling windows pull in natural light, which helps the space feel smooth and calm even on grey London days.

Ceiling services are tidy and largely exposed, giving a raw but ordered look that many tech and media tenants like. Meeting rooms typically sit around the core, with quiet corners pushed out towards the courtyard-facing windows, where you can work with a laptop while hearing the faint echo of conversation below.

How tenants use the space

Chief executive Toby Courtauld likes to describe Great Portland’s approach at Rathbone Square as creating places rather than simple office blocks, where occupiers feel part of a small neighbourhood instead of a sealed tower. That philosophy shows up in the way occupiers carve out breakout areas directly overlooking the courtyard.

On a typical visit with a leasing team, you see project rooms with scribbled whiteboards next to quieter focus booths, plus informal sofas near the kitchen where people hold quick stand-up meetings. The courtyard itself doubles as an outdoor meeting space during warmer months, with laptops balanced on knees and the smell of coffee drifting from the ground-floor units.

Location and transport links

Rathbone Square sits a short walk north of Oxford Street, roughly between Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus stations. That puts the office within easy reach of the Elizabeth line, the Central line and the Northern line, which matters for tenants hiring staff from across Greater London.

For many employees, the journey ends with a brief turn into the courtyard passage, where the sound drops and you move from crowds and bus engines into a calmer, enclosed square. Delivery riders and service staff can reach separate access points, so the main office entrance stays tidy during the day.

Design, materials and feel

The architecture at Rathbone Square mixes brick, stone and large glass panes, avoiding the cold feel of an all-glass tower. When you run your hand along the courtyard wall, the brick feels robust and slightly rough, contrasting with smooth metal handrails and clean glazing lines.

Balconies and terraces give some office suites direct outdoor access, which is rare in central London stock of this age. Potted plants, benches and subtle lighting help the square feel self-assured without becoming a showpiece, and the overall impression is that of a place meant for daily use rather than occasional corporate events.

Environmental and practical features

Great Portland has positioned Rathbone Square as a modern, sustainable asset compared with older West End stock, with efficient heating and cooling, good insulation and facilities for cyclists. Showers and secure bike storage in the basement make it practical for staff who commute by bike instead of squeezing onto rush-hour trains.

Flexible floorplates also align with evolving hybrid work patterns, letting tenants shrink or expand collaborative areas without rebuilding the whole fit-out. Local amenities, from coffee shops to supermarkets, are within a few minutes’ walk, which keeps lunchtime practical and supports late-evening working when needed.

Context and share reference

Rathbone Square forms part of a wider portfolio of London offices and mixed-use assets that Great Portland has assembled over decades, focusing on West End locations and medium-size schemes rather than outlying business parks. Overall, this steady rental base underpins Great Portland Estates plc shares, which trade in London under ISIN GB00B01FLL16.

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