House of Fraser store to be flattened and replaced by 16-storey mixed-use scheme
Skanska has chalked up a £235m job to build a 16-storey mixed-use block in Victoria.
The firm has signed a contract with Welput, a central London office fund managed by developer BentallGreenOak, to provide construction and M&E services on the 43,700m² scheme at 105 Victoria Street.
Construction, which is due to start on site in the third quarter of this year, will require the demolition of a House of Fraser store which has traded on the site for 150 years.
The new scheme, designed by KPF, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026.
It will feature two basement levels, retail units at ground level, one storey of affordable workspace and 14 more storeys of office space above.
It will also include a ground=level “village green” lined with small retail booths which will provide a new pedestrian route through the centre of the building between Victoria Street and Howick Place.
The project team includes project manager Avison Young, planning consultant DP9, QS Gleeds, structural engineer AKT II, facade specialist Arup, interior architect Henning Larsen, landscape architect Bowles & Wyer and Sweco as MEP engineer, fire engineer and sustainability consultant.
Westminster council approved the scheme in May last year despite admitting that it would have a “far greater street presence” than the current building and will have an “adverse impact” on daylight for its neighbours.
Councillors said the benefits of the scheme outweighed the “harm [that] will be caused in terms of design, townscape and heritage”.
The site has been a department store since 1872, originally as an Army & Navy stores before the brand was purchased by House of Fraser in 1973.
House of Fraser went into administration in August 2018 before being bought out by retailer Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct chain the same day for £90m.
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