Three chasing £100m Westminster office as race for two other London schemes hots up

Three firms are in the running for a £100m office scheme to revamp a former headquarters building a stone’s throw away from the Houses of Parliament.

Mace and Skanska have been joined on the shortlist by Wates for the job at 7 Millbank in Westminster which is getting a makeover designed by Make Architects.

The nine-storey building was built in two phases between 1912 and 1929 and was the head office of British American Tobacco.

Work for client Old Park Lane Management will involve demolishing and rebuilding the building which has suffered from corroded steelwork in the past few years.

Repairs were attempted a couple of years ago but Make said a “comprehensive overhaul” was needed to fix irreversible damage.

Work will involve dismantling, repairing and reconstructing the existing facade and building a new office building within. Existing Portland stone will be repaired while entrances will be upgraded, a new atrium and central staircase built along with a new roof garden at level eight of the building.

Others working on the scheme, which was given planning last summer by Westminster council, include QS and principal designer WT, project manager Gardiner & Theobald, structures consultant Waterman and M&E consultant Hilson Moran.

Meanwhile, Mace is one of two left in the race for a £350m new office building at 120 Fleet Street, along with Lendlease, after Multiplex missed the cut.

And all three firms are due to send in bids tomorrow (Friday) for a £120m design and build contract to give the IBM building on London’s South Bank a makeover. The other bidder for the job, designed by AHMM, is Laing O’Rourke. A winner on the scheme for Wolfe Commercial Properties Southbank is due early in the summer.

Skanska was being lined up for a separate office job in the City, believed to be 1 Liverpool Street, but recently walked away after failing to agree a fixed price with joint venture developer Aviva Investors and Transport for London.

Designed by Eric Parry Architects, the difference in price between client and contractor on the Crossrail overstation development is believed to be as much as £20m.