Posted on December 16, 2013 by Rob Powell
OFFICES in which housing officers for Islington council work could themselves become homes if a developer’s bid is successful.
Islington Council are vacating Highbury House in Highbury Crescent, London, in a cost saving moving and the owner, Folgate Estates has submitted an application to turn the property in to 60 new homes.
Rules for the change of use from offices to residential were relaxed by the coalition government.
Local paper, the Islington Gazette reports that the council is opposed to the move. Councillor James Murray, executive member for housing, told the paper:
“The government’s change to housing is creating a reckless free for all so that you have office space being lost and businesses and small charities being evicted to make way for new residential properties.”
A top planner at City Hall told the London Assembly earlier this year that the government’s relaxation of the rules could place 4 million square metres of office space in the London at risk.
Highbury House, Islington.
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Posted on December 11, 2013 by Rob Powell
DENSE fog across London this morning saw some the capital’s most iconic office buildings disappear from the vista. Here are some of the best photos from Twitter this morning…
Canary Wharf as seen from above
Another extraordinary photo of Canary Wharf, taking by the Metropolitan Police Helicopter.
The Gherkin in the City of London.
The Shard, the tallest building in the UK, emerging from the fog.
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Posted on November 15, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
A 1970s office block in Kingston upon Thames could be turned in to a budget hotel.
The Surrey Comet newspaper reports that developers BA Partnership & Premier Inn Hotels Ltd have submitted a planning application requesting permission to change the use of Combined House into a hotel.
The office block is in Wheatfield Way in Kingston upon Thames town centre and sits above an NCP car park and is next to a Travelodge Hotel which was also previously offices.
The tower was built in 1976 and has been owned by the BA Partnership since 2003. A planning statement supporting their application to turn the offices into a hotel notes, “Kingston has long been a relatively unpopular office location and its rental values are correspondingly low, only 60% of those in Richmond, for example.”
“It would not be financially justifiable to refurbish Combined House” [for use as offices], the report goes on to say. The closing date for comments on the application is December 6th.
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Posted on November 15, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
Office space rented in July 2012 for the Scottish Police Authority remains empty over a year later, despite over £130,000 being spent on renting during that time.
The revelation is contained in a report by Audit Scotland in to the merger of Scotland’s police forces to create a new organisation called Police Scotland.
The offices at Bremner House at Stirling Castle Business Park were acquired to house the new Scottish Police Authority which took on a police oversight role from the Scottish Police Services Authority as part of the merger.
“The Scottish Government rented Bremner House in Stirling in July 2012 as the interim location for the SPA. No staff have been transferred to Bremner House despite it being available from November 2012. As at September 2013, it remains unoccupied,” a report by Audit Scotland notes. The annual rental charge for the offices is £132,000.
The merger of Scotland’s police is one of the biggest reforms to have taken place since devolution in 1999.
Auditor General for Scotland, Caroline Gardner, said:
“The creation of a single police service has been one of the biggest reforms in Scotland’s public sector. Much was achieved over a short timeframe and front-line operations were maintained throughout. However, a lack of good information in non-operational areas like finance and staffing, and differing views on how the new arrangements would work in practice affected planning for the move to a single police service.
“The Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland will find it challenging to deliver the savings expected by these reforms. There are a number of reasons for this, including limited flexibility with police officer and staff numbers. They need to urgently agree a long-term financial strategy and savings plans.”
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Posted on November 7, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
SOCIAL media giant Facebook have agreed a ten year letting at British Land’s Regent’s Place mixed use campus in London NW1.
The tech firm are taking 87,719 sq ft of space and will occupy three floors of 10 Brock Place, joining other tenant businesses there such as Manchester City FC, Debenhams and Whitefoord LLP.
Tim Roberts, Head of Offices at British Land, said: “We are excited to welcome another high profile occupier to this excellent West End development. This strong leasing performance demonstrates the appeal of 10 Brock Street and Regent’s Place alike to occupiers looking for high quality office space in a convenient central location.”
Facebook will be moving to 10 Brock Street from its current offices in Earlham Street, WC2.
Last month British Land announced a newly commissioned, 14-metre tall piece of public art for Regent’s Place.
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Posted on October 22, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
A NEW 175-workstation serviced office centre has been opened at Hertsmere House at Canary Wharf.
The new business centre from Targetspace sits at the western end of West India Docks and is the fourth serviced office space in their London portfolio.
Targetspace Managing Director Stephen Finnegan commented: “Hertsmere House is the ideal location to conduct business, well served by both Docklands Light Railway and the London Underground and in close proximity to surrounding bars and restaurants.”
The serviced office operator, formed in 2006, also has business centres at Centre Point in the West End, St Mary Axe in the City of London and at Wembley.
Hertsmere House had previously been identified for redevelopment with 63-storey Columbus Tower gaining planning permission from the Mayor of London in 2009, despite being turned down by Tower Hamlets council. Following the economic downturn, the developer announced in 2011 they would be reviewing their proposals.
The skyscraper would have been taller than One Canada Square but with those plans stalled, Targetspace have secured a five year lease at Hertsmere House. They are offering 15,000 sq ft of unbranded office space as well as meeting rooms and virtual offices.
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Posted on October 15, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
ARCHITECTS have been selected to create the new London HQ of the Metropolitan Police.
Allford Halls Monaghan Morris won an international design competition (winning design pictured above) and it is their plans that will now go forward for the new Scotland Yard building.
The firm, previously responsible for designs for Google’s London HQ at King’s Cross and a new University of Amsterdam building, will retain the Met’s famous revolving sign.
The Met decided to leave it’s previous base, New Scotland Yard, in Victoria as part of a cost cutting drive and its new HQ will be in the Curtis Green building on the Victoria Embankment.
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Scotland Yard is returning to its historical home in Whitehall. The new, smaller Met HQ will help deliver a 21st century police force and AHMM’s design, which includes a public space, will help Londoners to reconnect with the Met.
“By selling outdated and impractical buildings like the New Scotland Yard that are costly to maintain, we can reduce property running costs. The money raised from the sale of these buildings will be ploughed back into frontline policing so that our officers are equipped with the tools and technology they need to fight crime and to continue to keep London safe.”
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Posted on October 14, 2013 by Rob Powell
THE DELAPIDATED offices in which the RMS Titanic was designed in Belfast look set to be reopened.
It was in the Harland and Wolff Drawing Office that plans for the ill-fated Titanic were drawn up.
She famously capsized and sunk after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York with the loss of more than 1500 lives.
Harland and Wolff were at one time the largest shipbuilder in the world and it’s thought over 1,000 ships were designed from the Belfast offices.
Now, over a hundred years later, the new Heritage Lottery Fund’s Heritage Enterprise scheme has awarded £5million in the Category B+ Listed offices which have been vacant since 1989.
Under the new plans, the drawing offices will be opened to the public and a new 87-bedroom boutique hotel will be developed which is expected to create 109 FTE (full time-equivalent) jobs.
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Posted on October 10, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
LAND Securities has sold almost 400,000 sq ft of office space on the South Bank in central London.
Their portfolio of property at Bankside has been bought for £315 million by M&G Investments.
Two office buildings with space totalling 380,000 sq ft, and let to the Royal Bank of Scotland until 2027, were included in the deal along with 73,000 sq ft of retail space in a third building.
Scott Parsons, Head of London Property at Land Securities, said:
“With our expertise and passion for place-making, Land Securities’ Bankside development in 2007 provided the catalyst for the transformation of this part of the South Bank. Bankside has produced strong, double-digit returns for us since we started on site in 2003, and selling it now fits our strategy of recycling capital to re-invest in other transformational opportunities within the Group’s development pipeline.’
Related: Find serviced offices at the South Bank
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Posted on October 7, 2013 by Offices.org.uk
BUSINESSES at the Lingley Mere Business Park will soon be about to enjoy the use of a new cafe and meeting space in a state of the art amenity building.
The addition to the park has just finished an eight month construction period and fitting out is currently under way. Once ready, the 7,500 sq ft building will be taken over by catering specialists Autograph who will provide a coffee shop and meeting space for tenants and visitors at the business park.
Wes Erlam, senior development surveyor at Muse Developments, said: “The building has been designed to complement the natural surroundings of Lingley Mere and we are extremely pleased with the outcome. The building will provide an excellent range of on–site amenities, including hot and cold food, a coffee shop, and meeting space with WiFi.
We hope the new facility will be enjoyed by existing occupiers and prove attractive to companies considering relocating to Lingley Mere.”
Lingley Mere currently provides 380,000 sq ft of office accommodation and has outline planning consent to double in size.
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