McAlpine also on shortlist for £350m Sellar scheme

Paddington cube

Multiplex and Mace are again locking horns for a high-profile scheme in London with the pair bidding for the £350m Cube in Paddington designed by Shard architect Renzo Piano.

Both have been joined on the shortlist by Sir Robert McAlpine, recent winner of Landsec’s 21 Moorfields office block in the City of London designed by Wilkinson Eyre.

Cube developer Sellar is expected to choose a winner early next year on what will be the largest construction job in west London in the coming years.

Multiplex and Mace are familiar foes in recent years with the firms the final two in the deal to build the new Spurs stadium – although Multiplex stopped short of submitting a formal bid – while the pair are the remaining bidders for the next phase of the Chelsea Barracks development.

Bids have just gone in for phase four, which carries a pricetag of around £200m, with a winner due by the end of the year.

Sellar’s hunt for a contractor on the Cube is being masterminded by Paul Flexney-Briscoe who joined the company in April as a replacement for Flan McNamara who left the firm at the end of last year.

His CV includes spells at Sir Robert McAlpine and five years at Landsec where he was in charge of the £440m Nova scheme in London’s Victoria built by Mace.

Kent firm Erith is well underway with a £6m deal to tear down the Royal Mail sorting office earmarked for Piano’s new building.

The work is due to finish at the end of the year ahead of piling and enabling works starting on the office and retail scheme early next year.

As well as the 14-storey office block (pictured), which is next door to St Mary’s Hospital, Piano’s plans include retail and restaurant space along with a new public square.

As part of the development, Sellar is due to build a new £40m ticket hall for the Bakerloo line station at Paddington with work starting early next year.

Sellar has already appointed WSP to carry out engineering work, while Gardiner & Theobald is QS. G&T’s management services arm has been hired as the employer’s agent with Knight Frank and JLL tasked with finding tenants for the 360,000 sq ft office.

Paddington cube

Mace Qatari Diar Chelsea Barracks 31.10 (1)

Mace is carrying out work on the first three phases of Chelsea Barracks