McLaren closing in on £150m revamp of 1960s London tower

McLaren is closing in on a high-profile scheme to refurbish a 1960s office block in London’s Victoria after the original proposals were ditched.

Portland House was built in 1963 and developer Landsec said earlier this year the initial plan to add a 14-storey block to the side of the existing 29-storey building had been dropped in order to meet is carbon reduction targets.

It meant proposals drawn up by Gensler were scrapped and Buckley Gray Yeoman brought in to work up a £150m makeover. Other consultants working on the job include QS Exigere, M&E engineer Watkins Payne and structural engineer Parmarbrook. Opera is project manager and employer’s agent.

Building understands McLaren is set to sign a PCSA deal on the job, having beaten ISG to become preferred bidder.

The block has been empty since last summer and in its interim results last month, Landsec said the development, which has an overall value of close to £400m, would make a limited start next year “while markets remain unsettled”.

Speaking about its U-turn on the original proposals, the developer said in its annual results earlier this year the reworked plan “materially reduces the targeted embodied carbon of the scheme to below 400kgCO2e/sqm”.

The job is one of several Landsec has on its books for London which include Timber Square, drawn up by Bennetts Associates, and an office scheme at 55 Old Broad Street, set to go in for planning next year, and designed by Fletcher Priest.

Meanwhile, Landsec said an F1 racing simulation experience has opened its doors at its One New Change scheme at St Paul’s in the City of London. Called F1 Arcade, it features 60 motion F1 simulators and is the first in a planned global rollout of the initiative.