Oxford Circus, in the heart of London, is one of the world’s most congested intersections, with more than 200 million pedestrians crossing it each year. The innovative makeover allows shoppers to walk across Oxford Circus diagonally for the first time.

Atkins’ design was inspired by Tokyo’s famous Shibuya crossing, renowned for allowing people to cross with ease. The solution enabled all existing barriers and street clutter to be ripped out and remodelled in order to give pedestrians the freedom to move around quickly - both straight ahead and diagonally – across Regent Street and Oxford Street.

The scheme was delivered by a multidisciplinary Atkins team, incorporating pedestrian modelling, traffic modelling and streetscape design.