Winner emerges on £85m new build office job that will replace 1970s City block

A winner has been appointed on an £85m plan to redevelop a 1970s office block on the site where the Great Fire of London started.

Building understands that McLaren has beaten Mace and Morgan Sindall to the job at 25 Monument Street called Faryners House.

The job has been drawn up by Fletcher Priest with the scheme, which was given full planning in April, being developed by Monument Estates, set up by Aviva’s former head of development Neal Pickering.

The building will run across 97,000sq ft of office space over 10 upper floors, with several levels having external terraces. It will be cube-shaped, starting on Pudding Lane and stepping down towards the side of the building facing the Monument. Work is slated to finish by spring 2029.

Others working on the scheme include cost consultant Exigere and project manager Blackburn & Co. Structural engineer is London Structures Lab.

Faryners House was named after Thomas Farriner, whose bakery on Pudding Lane was the starting point for the great fire in September 1666 that destroyed around 80% of the City.

Fletcher Priest said the scheme would enhance the setting of the adjacent column, built in the 1670s to commemorate the fire, and aim partly to re-establish the original piazza which surrounded the Monument.

Earlier this summer John F Hunt won the demolition and enabling works contract at the site, having beaten Erith, Morrisroe and Deconstruct for the work.

Meanwhile, Mace is one of three firms to have sent in bids this month for a scheme to redevelop two buildings known as 10-20 Victoria Street in London’s Victoria.

Drawn up by Piercy & Co for Meadow Partners, a real estate investment manager based in London and New York, the plans cover 10-18 Victoria Street and a second building at 20 Victoria Street.

Bovis and Bam are also pricing the job, worth upwards of £150m, ahead of a winner being appointed later this year.