| Summary : Oxford Circus station was opened by the Central London Railway on 30th July 1900 as one of the intermediate stations on its line from Shepherd's Bush to the Bank. The station was designed by Harry Bell Measures and had a pinkish-brown unglazed terracotta facade. On 10th March 1906 a new station was built at Oxford Street to serve trains on the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. The design of the station was by Leslie W Green who adopted features similar to Harry Bell Measure's stations. This included the use of moulded terracotta blocks, heavily glazed in a deep ruby red colour described as 'sand de boeuf' - oxblood. The ground floor housed the booking office and the upper lift landing. A mezzanine floor contained the lift gear and, on opening, an hairdressers. As part of the 1980s scheme to give a facelift to underground stations in the central area Nicholas Munro, a student at the Royal College of Art, provided the initial artworks based on his impressions of the station, and these were developed by the architects using glass mosaics. The Central line platforms (completed 1983) were given a motif of 'snakes and ladders' - suggestings passageways (snakes), escalators and stairs. Bakerloo platforms (completed 1985) had 'maze' panels - a literal, if not wholly complimentary, interpretation of the station plan. Following the fire in 1984 the damaged Victoria line platform was refinished in white vitreous enamelled panelling with decorative elements incorporating elements from the murals on the other two lines. |