OXO TOWER ARCHITECTURE: ART DECO INDUSTRY, BRANDING, AND THE THAMES

The Oxo Tower at Oxo Tower Wharf, rising nine storeys above the south bank of the Thames, is one of London's most distinctive riverside landmarks — and one of the most celebrated examples of architecture as advertising in Britain. Completed in 1929 to an Art Deco design by Albert Moore, the tower is famous for its ingenious circumvention of London's skyline advertising ban: four sets of three vertically-aligned windows, each "coincidentally" shaped as a circle, a cross, and a circle — spelling O-X-O on all four sides of the tower.

The building has a complex history. The site was originally occupied by a power station built around 1900 to supply electricity to the Royal Mail Post Office. In the late 1920s, the Liebig Extract of Meat Company (manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes and part of the Vestey Group) acquired the property for conversion into a cold store. Between 1928 and 1929, company architect Albert Moore largely demolished the original power station but retained and extended the river-facing façade, rebuilding the complex in the fashionable Art Deco style.

When Liebig applied for permission to install illuminated signs spelling "OXO" on the proposed tower, the application was refused under London's ban on riverside advertising. Moore's solution was architectural rather than regulatory: he designed the tower with windows shaped to spell the company's name. This was architecture, not signage — and it allowed the company to achieve permanent, highly visible branding that has endured for nearly a century.

  • Written by Gavin Paisley, director & model-maker at Chisel & Mouse based in East Sussex, England.
  • Last updated: 17-Feb-26.

Photograph by HereBeBeasties.

Oxo Tower architectural scale model

Looking for an Oxo Tower architectural model?

The Oxo Tower is available as two distinct architectural objects by Chisel & Mouse:

What is the Oxo Tower?

Oxo Tower Wharf is a mixed-use building complex on the South Bank of the Thames, dominated by the nine-storey Oxo Tower itself. Originally built as an industrial facility — first a power station, then a cold store — the building was redeveloped in the 1990s to include:

  • Ground and first floors: Design, arts and crafts shops; two galleries (Oxo Bargehouse and Oxo Gallery)
  • Second floor: Event and wedding hire space
  • Third to seventh floors: 78 social housing flats (owned by Redwood Housing, managed by Coin Street Community Builders)
  • Eighth floor (rooftop): Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie; public viewing gallery offering panoramic views across London

The tower stands at the eastern end of London's South Bank cultural area in the London Borough of Southwark. A continuous riverside walkway passes in front of the building, linking it to the Royal Festival Hall, National Theatre, Tate Modern, and other Southbank attractions.

The building was originally known as Stamford Wharf. At the time of its completion in 1929, it was London's second-highest commercial building.

Facts panel

Art Deco industrial building with prominent tower, South Bank, London. Originally a power station (c.1900); rebuilt as cold store 1928–29; restored and converted to mixed use 1990s.

  • Original building: Power station for Royal Mail Post Office, built c.1900 (exact date unknown)
  • Original architect (power station): Unknown
  • Acquired by Liebig Extract of Meat Company: Late 1920s (exact date unknown; company established UK operations 1927)
  • Rebuild architect: Albert Moore, company architect for Liebig/Oxo
  • Rebuild/extension: 1928–1929
  • Design approach: Much of original power station demolished; river-facing façade retained and extended; new Art Deco design with tower added
  • Original name: Stamford Wharf
  • Original use (1929–post-WWII): Cold store and distribution centre for Oxo beef stock cubes
  • Height: Nine storeys
  • Materials: Steel frame, brick construction, Art Deco detailing, distinctive window fenestration spelling "OXO"
  • Architectural style: Art Deco (interwar British industrial)
  • The OXO windows: Four sets of three vertically-aligned windows on each face of the tower, shaped as circle-cross-circle, spelling "OXO"
  • Advertising ban circumvention: Liebig applied for illuminated "OXO" signs; permission refused under ban on riverside advertising; windows designed as architectural features, not signage
  • Subsequent ownership: Vestey Group (Liebig's parent company); building became derelict by 1970s
  • Dereliction period: 1970s–1980s (used briefly for floating heliport; otherwise vacant)
  • Demolition threat: Late 1970s–early 1980s; multiple redevelopment proposals met with strong local opposition; two planning inquiries held
  • Conservation area designation: 1983 (Southwark Council, to prevent demolition)
  • Acquired by Greater London Council (GLC): 1984, for £2.7 million
  • Sold to Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB): 1984, for £750,000 (entire 13-acre site)
  • Restoration architect: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
  • Restoration cost: £20 million (funded by bank loans, CSCB equity, Housing Corporation grant, English Partnerships City Grant)
  • Restoration period: 1990s
  • Reopened: 1996
  • Restaurant opened: September 1996 (Harvey Nichols' first restaurant; now Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie)
  • Address: Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London SE1 9PH
  • Awards: Royal Fine Art Commission/BSkyB Building of the Year Award for Urban Regeneration (1997); RIBA Award for Architecture (1997); Brick Development Association Award (1997); Civic Trust Award (1998); The Waterfront Center USA Honor Award (2000)
  • Listed status: Not listed (despite historical significance and multiple awards)
  • Current management: Coin Street Community Builders (social enterprise and development trust)

Architect: Albert Moore

Very little is known about Albert Moore, who is identified in all sources as the "company architect" for the Liebig Extract of Meat Company / Oxo. His role appears to have been that of an in-house architect responsible for the company's industrial and commercial buildings.

Moore's Oxo Tower design (1928–29) is his only known work to have achieved lasting fame. The building demonstrates a confident handling of Art Deco industrial architecture — clean lines, geometric massing, restrained ornament, and a strong vertical emphasis. But the design's most celebrated feature is its solution to a commercial problem: how to advertise without violating advertising regulations.

The OXO windows are a masterpiece of lateral thinking. By integrating the brand name into the architectural fabric as window shapes rather than applied signage, Moore created a form of advertising that was both permanent and legally defensible. The design has been described as "playing fast and loose" with the city's rules — but it worked, and it has endured.

Whether Moore conceived this idea independently or in consultation with Liebig's management is unclear. What is certain is that the tower became one of the earliest and most successful examples of architecture as corporate branding in Britain.

Context: Oxo and the Liebig Extract of Meat Company

Oxo beef stock cubes were manufactured by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company (commonly known as "Lemco"), which was part of the Vestey Group. Liebig had been producing meat extracts since the 19th century, and Oxo cubes — concentrated beef stock in cube form — became one of their most successful products.

The company entered the UK market in the 1920s and established operations in 1927. They acquired the former power station site on the South Bank in the late 1920s with the intention of converting it into a cold store and distribution centre for their products. The Thames-side location provided convenient access for river transport of goods.

The decision to add a prominent tower was both practical (providing visual presence and landmark identity) and commercial (advertising the Oxo brand). But London's regulations prohibited illuminated advertising along the riverside — a measure intended to preserve the dignity of the Thames skyline.

Albert Moore's window design circumvented this restriction. The application of illuminated signs was rejected; the architectural integration of windows shaped to spell "OXO" was approved. The tower became a permanent advertisement, visible from across the river, from bridges, and from the city beyond.

Photograph by James Petts.

After World War II, Liebig/Oxo gradually reduced their use of the building. By the 1970s, the Oxo Tower had become derelict — used briefly for a company making "long eggs" for meat pies, and later for a floating heliport moored to the riverside. Most of the building stood empty.

The fight to save the Oxo Tower (1970s–1980s)

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Oxo Tower faced demolition. Multiple developers proposed tearing down the building and redeveloping the site along with the adjacent Coin Street area. These proposals met with fierce local opposition from residents and community groups who wanted to preserve the building and prevent wholesale commercial redevelopment of the South Bank.

Two planning inquiries were held. Although permission for redevelopment was eventually granted, the campaign to save the building gained crucial support from the Greater London Council (GLC) under Labour leadership.

In 1983, Southwark Council designated the Oxo Tower part of a conservation area in a bid to prevent its demolition.

In 1984, the GLC purchased the tower and the adjoining land for £2.7 million. The GLC then sold the entire 13-acre site to the community organisation Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) for just £750,000 — a transformative act that placed control of the site in the hands of a non-profit social enterprise committed to regeneration for community benefit rather than private profit.

The Coin Street Community Builders restoration (1990s)

Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) is a social enterprise and development trust founded to regenerate the South Bank for the benefit of the local community. After acquiring the Oxo Tower site in 1984, CSCB's first act was to close the floating heliport, bringing peace back to the riverside.

In the 1990s, CSCB embarked on a major £20 million refurbishment of the Oxo Tower, designed by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands. The project was funded through a mixture of:

  • Bank loans
  • CSCB equity
  • Housing Corporation grant
  • English Partnerships City Grant (urban regeneration funding)

The restoration transformed the building into a mixed-use development:

  • Ground and first floors: Retail studios for designer-makers (over 30 shops and workshops where the public can watch designers at work and commission or purchase original products across disciplines including fine art, textiles, jewellery, ceramics, and contemporary interior design)
  • Ground floor: gallery@oxo (hosting changing exhibitions of photography, contemporary design, architecture, and issue-based art)
  • Second floor: Hirable event space for exhibitions, weddings, fashion shows, and private functions
  • Third to seventh floors: 78 flats (social housing owned by Redwood Housing)
  • Eighth floor: Restaurant, bar, and brasserie with panoramic river views; public viewing gallery

The building reopened to the public in 1996. The Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie — Harvey Nichols' first restaurant — opened in September 1996 and quickly became one of London's most popular dining destinations.

The restoration was a critical and commercial success, winning multiple awards:

  • Royal Fine Art Commission/BSkyB Building of the Year Award for Urban Regeneration (1997)
  • RIBA Award for Architecture (1997)
  • Brick Development Association Award (1997)
  • Civic Trust Award (1998)
  • The Waterfront Center USA Honor Award (2000)

Despite this recognition, the Oxo Tower has never been granted listed building status — a curious omission given its historical significance, architectural quality, and cultural prominence.

The tower itself: access and views

The tower is not accessible to the general public. Access is granted only to maintenance staff (electricians, etc.) via a hidden, locked door near the restaurant kitchens. Despite the OXO windows being the building's architectural focal point, visitors cannot enter the tower structure itself.

However, the eighth-floor public viewing gallery offers panoramic views across London, making it possible to experience the building's commanding riverside position even without accessing the tower.

Model-maker's lens

The Oxo Tower is a study in architectural restraint — Art Deco discipline applied to industrial form, with a single brilliant gesture (the OXO windows) providing identity and delight.

  • Focus — the tower itself, seen from the river: the nine-storey vertical mass, the stepped massing at the top, the four sets of OXO windows reading clearly from all sides. This is architecture as landmark, architecture as sign.
  • Detail — the OXO windows are the defining feature. At model scale, we simplify them into clear geometric shapes — circle, cross, circle — that spell the name without ambiguity. The Art Deco detailing (stepped massing, geometric ornament, clean lines) reinforces the tower's period character.
  • How it reads at small scale — exceptionally well, because the architecture is fundamentally simple: a vertical mass with a clear graphic identity. The OXO windows are bold enough to read at any scale. The four-sided composition ensures the building is equally legible from every angle — essential for a riverside landmark designed to be seen from multiple viewpoints.
  • How to display — the freestanding model allows the building to be appreciated in the round, as it exists in reality. The tower can be rotated to show all four faces spelling OXO. The wall-mounted PopArc version treats the façade as a two-dimensional graphic composition — emphasising the building's role as both architecture and advertising. Either interpretation works; each reveals a different aspect of the building's character.

Modelling the Oxo Tower is an exercise in understanding architecture as communication. The building is a message made solid — a brand name embedded permanently into the London skyline through clever design and lateral thinking. The model captures that gesture at the moment it was built: 1929, when Art Deco was modern, when skyline advertising was banned, when architects could still outsmart the regulations with wit and geometry.

Frequently asked questions about the Oxo Tower

Who designed the Oxo Tower?

Albert Moore, company architect for the Liebig Extract of Meat Company (Oxo).

When was the Oxo Tower built?

1928–1929 (as a rebuild/extension of an earlier power station built c.1900).

Why does the tower spell OXO?

The Liebig Extract of Meat Company (manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes) wanted illuminated advertising signs on the tower. When permission was refused under London's ban on riverside advertising, architect Albert Moore designed windows shaped as circle-cross-circle, spelling "OXO" on all four sides. This was architecture, not signage — circumventing the ban.

What was the building originally used for?

Originally (c.1900): power station for Royal Mail. After 1929: cold store and distribution centre for Oxo products. After 1996: mixed-use (shops, galleries, social housing, restaurant).

Who saved the Oxo Tower from demolition?

Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB), a non-profit social enterprise, purchased the building and surrounding site in 1984 with support from the Greater London Council. They restored it in the 1990s.

Is the Oxo Tower listed?

No. Despite its historical significance and multiple architectural awards, it has not been granted listed building status.

Can you go inside the tower?

No. The tower structure is not accessible to the public (maintenance access only). However, the eighth-floor public viewing gallery offers panoramic views.

What is in the Oxo Tower today?

Ground/first floors: designer-maker studios, shops, galleries. Second floor: event hire space. Third–seventh floors: 78 social housing flats. Eighth floor: Restaurant, bar, brasserie, and public viewing gallery.

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Sources and further reading

  • Coin Street Community Builders — "Oxo Tower Wharf development and history" — https://coinstreet.org/about-us/our-developments/oxo-tower-wharf-development-and-history (official history from current owners)
  • Wikipedia — "Oxo Tower" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxo_Tower
  • Grace's Guide to British Industrial History — "Oxo Tower" — https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Oxo_Tower
  • Londonist — "Was The Oxo Tower Really An Oxo Factory?" (29 March 2022) — first-hand account of tower access
  • Londontopia — "Great London Buildings – Oxo Tower on the Southbank" (25 July 2017)
  • Survey of London — volumes covering South Bank development and 20th-century industrial architecture
  • Alan Powers — Britain: Modern Architectures in History (Reaktion Books, 2007) — includes discussion of interwar industrial buildings
  • Elain Harwood — England: A Guide to Post-War Listed Buildings (Batsford, 2003) — discusses Art Deco industrial heritage