Firm will oversee work on redevelopment of the Canadian High Commission

Lodha UK has appointed Mace on its £140m redevelopment of the Canadian High Commission in Mayfair.

Mace will be the main contractor under a design and build contract on the No. 1 Grosvenor Square job.

The plan will see the reconstruction and restoration of the neo-Georgian building’s the façade, which has been dismantled brick by brick. Reconstructing the façade will allow for ceiling heights of between 3.1m and 4.2m, which will be among the highest of any new residential scheme in London, Lodha said.

The new development will comprise a mix of apartments, duplexes and a penthouse.

Mace will commence construction work in the autumn, after contractor McGee has completed piling and excavation of the site. 

Formerly the home of the Canadian High Commission, the original building was constructed in the 1930s and was previously occupied by the US Embassy between 1938 and 1960.

Lodha UK purchased the Mayfair site three years ago. Full demolition, including the existing basement, is expected to be completed next month.

Developer Qatari Diar won planning permission in November to convert the nearby US Embassy, also on Grosvenor Square, into a 137-bed hotel designed by David Chipperfield.

The US Embassy is moving to a new cube-shaped base in Nine Elms in Vauxhall, complete with a moat.