Building completed in 2016 has been hit by series of leaks leading to lengthy insurance battle
Sir Robert McAlpine is understood to have won a deal to replace the roof on broadcaster Sky’s headquarters building in west London.
McAlpine and beaten rival Bovis are understood to have been told last week who had won the £150m deal which also includes a raft of M&E work as well.
Called Sky Central, the £220m building, designed by Amanda Levete’s practice AL_A and built by Mace Construct, was completed in 2016 and was showered with a host of accolades including the BCO’s corporate workplace and Best of the Best awards for 2017.
It can fit around 3,500 employees and has been described as the centrepiece of the broadcaster’s 13ha media headquarters in Osterley.
But the building’s flat roof has been plagued by a series of leaks with the problem sparking a long-running insurance battle between Sky, Mace and a group of insurers over the cost of putting the roof right.
Water got into the roof’s timber cassettes – chosen because of their ability to reduce airborne sound which was deemed essential because the building sits under a major Heathrow flight path – and caused them to decay.
Insurers had argued they were only responsible for damage that happened during the active policy period, declining to pay for ongoing decay that worsened over time.
But at the end of 2024 the Court of Appeal ruled that insurers were liable for progressive deterioration and resulting damage and earlier this year Sky and Mace finally reached a settlement with insurers over the case.
As well as office space, Sky Central also includes studios and production facilities together with research and development zones and an energy centre.
Sky has been contacted for comment.
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