Contractors on alert after £300m City tower gets green light

Contractors are on alert after plans for a 31-storey office tower in the City of London were given the green light by Square Mile planners this morning.

The £300m scheme at 130 Fenchurch Street has been designed by Wilkinson Eyre and follows two rounds of public consultation which took place last year. Developer on the job is CO-RE.

Contractors have not yet been sounded out with tenders expected to be out early next year. But likely bidders include Mace, already working on CO-RE’s Lansdowne House scheme at Berkeley Square, and Multiplex, which is working on CO-RE’s mixed-use redevelopment of the former ITV Studios site. Now called Vista at 72 Upper Ground, the scheme at London’s South Bank officially broke ground last week.

Bovis, which had been lined up for the 72 Upper Ground scheme before it was rebid and when it was known as Lendlease, is also thought to be interested in the job.

The 130 Fenchurch Street site, located on the southern border of the City’s main cluster of towers, is occupied by a 16-storey 1950s building, Fountain House, which currently lies vacant. It will include 31 storeys of office space and exhibition space in the middle level of the building.

The chair of the City’s planning committee Tom Sleigh said: “130 Fenchurch captures our ambition to unlock growth: a striking new workplace in the heart of the City, with routes and views that open up the City for everyone. This is about more than one building — it’s part of a pattern of proactive planning decisions that are helping to shape a future-ready Square Mile

Demolition work will begin next year with the tower due to be finished in 2030.

Others working on the deal include QS T&T Alinea, structures consultant Arup, planning consultant DP9 and heritage consultant Tavernor.

The scheme is being backed by Aviva Investors, which was behind a previous plan for a 17-storey tower drawn up by Farshid Moussavi Architecture which was mothballed more than five years ago.

Aviva’s portfolio of schemes in the City include One Liverpool Street, designed by Eric Parry and being built by Mace, and 101 Moorgate, also being built by Mace, and designed by John Robertson Architects.

Meanwhile, Mace and Multiplex are due to find out later this autumn who has won another tower planned for the City.

The pair had been expected to find out in the spring who had won the Dovetail Building for developer Brockton Everlast which is estimated to be worth up to £400m.

A decision was then expected in the summer but this has now slipped to before Christmas.

Designed by AHMM, the Dovetail Building will be built at 115-123 Houndsditch close to Foggo Associates’ Can of Ham and a stone’s throw away from the cluster of towers on Bishopsgate.