Firms eye £200m City fringe scheme after office job gets council OK

Bidders are limbering up to price a £200m office block on the City fringe after an east London council gave it the green light last night.

Hackney council voted to approve the 20-storey Edge Shoreditch building at 4 Christopher Street which is being developed by Mitsui Fudosan and Dutch developer Edge.

Laing O'Rourke has been working on the construction management plan as part of the planning application but the job is expected to go to market – with rivals unsure whether O'Rourke will bid.

Instead, firms likely to throw their hats in to the ring include Mace, which is building a 28-storey tower for Edge at London Bridge, Multiplex and Lendlease. Skanska, fresh from its success to win the job to build a block for Landsec at Hill House, is another thought to be looking at the project.

Designed by AHMM, the job at Shoreditch will see the demolition of two existing six-storey buildings on the 4,400 sq m site including the 1962 Technico House and the construction of a large, stepped block with two basement levels and an atrium at its centre.

In its plan, O'Rourke said around 500 operatives and 100 staff are anticipated to be on site at the peak of construction.

The firm said modern methods of construction and significant off-site manufacturing would be employed, with the majority of the building's super structure, frame and facades to be modularised to reduce vehicle movements.

Low carbon concrete will also be used with the possible combination of CLT and other prefabricated materials to reduce carbon, the firm added.

Also on the project team is project manager Gardiner & Theobald, structural engineer AKT II, MEP engineer Atelier 10, planning consultant DP9, landscape architect MRG Studio and vertical transportation consultant Sweco. Start on site is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025 with completion slated for 2028.

Last week, AHMM submitted an application for another City fringe office scheme replacing earlier plans by a different architect.

The 27-storey One Fairchild Street scheme opposite Bishopsgate Goodsyard would replace an earlier set of proposals for a 30-storey tower designed by Gensler.

Source; Building