Posted on March 16, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
LONDON will lose over a million square metres of office space as a result of planning changes introduced by the Government, claim Labour London Assembly members.
Data from the London Development Database shows that between May 2013 and March 2015 there were over 2,800 proposals to convert office space in to residential property under the permitted development rights.
The 2000 applications already approved represent a loss office space to residential which is the equivalent of 153 football pitches.
The Department for Communities and Local Government introduced temporary Permitted Development rights in 2013 which allows offices to be converted to homes without planning permission.
In 2015, those temporary rights were made permanent, with Housing Minister Brandon Lewis commenting: “[the] measures will mean we can tap into the potential of underused buildings to offer new homes for first-time buyers and families long into the future, breathing new life into neighbourhoods and at the same time protecting our precious green belt.”
Back in 2013, GLA Planner John Lett warned that the relaxation placed four million square metres of office space at risk.
Commenting on the new research, Labour’s London Assembly Planning Spokesperson, Nicky Gavron AM, said:
“Seeing businesses turfed out of offices and other employment spaces across the capital will do nothing to help London’s economy. Nor will allowing developers to ride roughshod over planning standards solve London’s housing crisis.
“Yes, we need to solve the housing crisis but this isn’t the way to do it. What this policy does is rob local communities of an opportunity to deliver the developments suitable to their neighbourhoods and result in tiny sub-standard housing which fails to serve the needs of Londoners.”
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Posted on March 9, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
UNDER-utilised spaces in the offices and branches of Barclays to be made available to local businesses and communities.
The Eagle Labs initiative will see the space made available to customers and non-customers to help boost the UK’s digital and ‘maker’ skills, the bank says.
Incubator spaces are aimed at entrepreneurs and high growth firms projecting 20% growth to allow them to collaborate and receive mentoring from Barclays industry experts.
‘Maker’ spaces will give people access to tools like 3D printers and laser cutters as well as training sessions.
Barclays is opening its third Eagle Lab this week in Brighton following successful pilots in Bournemouth and Cambridge. The bank says aims to have opened up to 20 such sites by the end of this year.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK, commented: “Bankers have traditionally been at the heart of the community, supporting people with their finances, and helping local businesses to grow. Our Eagle Labs initiative is reaffirming that core community role by enabling people to embrace new and emerging technology. We are passionate about helping individuals build digital skills and confidence which is key to helping the UK to thrive in this digital age. The roll out of Eagle Labs is a natural extension of our work to support this aim through our Digital Eagles, Tea & Teach and coding sessions.”
Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “The digital economy is moving at a tremendous pace – digital industries are growing at a rate of 32 per cent faster than the wider economy, and contribute around £161bn a year for the UK. The need for digital skills has never been greater, and Barclays Eagle Labs is a fantastic initiative that offers incredibly helpful guidance, support and advice to local communities and businesses.”
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Posted on February 8, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
CAVENDISH Square in London’s West End is to be the home of i2Office’s 30th business centre, the serviced office provider has announced.
The fast-growing company has leased 11,000 sq ft of office space in the Grade-A 19-storey office tower at 33 Cavendish Square owned by Lancer Property Asset Management.
The new business centre – i2Office’s 17th in the capital – follows soon after a new centre opening in St James’s Square in November.
Chris Dodd, Managing Director at i2Office commented:
“33 Cavendish Square is a welcome addition to our expanding portfolio of London locations. The market is growing rapidly and we’re seeing strong customer demand for accommodation from a wide range of occupier types and sizes, each with a strong desire to embrace the high quality solution that we provide. In keeping with our entire portfolio, this new centre provides us with a Grade A facility that is adaptable to meet larger corporate requirements as well as those of small to medium sized enterprises.”
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Posted on February 4, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
A NEW co-working space which has been developed in the former National Temperance Hospital in London is being officially opened today.
The scheme from the Camden Collective has been realised in the former Insull wing of the art deco hospital on Hampstead Road.
The hospital itself was built in the 1870s with the William Binnie-designed Insull Memorial Wing added in the 1930s after a $160,000 donation from Samuel Insull.
Now branded as the Collective Temperance Hospital, the project offers three floors of workspace with free hot desking facilities, meeting rooms and subsidised individual offices for startups in the creative industries.
The new facility, which has received funding from the Mayor of London, boasts cycle parking, wifi, boardrooms, lockers, 24 hour access and communal kitchen areas.
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Posted on January 20, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
A LANDMARK office building in London’s Victoria has achieved 100% occupancy.
Land Securities has announced the latest tenant at 62 Buckingham Gate which means the property is now fully let.
IT consulting company Ciber UK has signed a 10 year lease for the remaining 10,700 sq ft of office space at the building designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.
Existing office tenants at 11-storey 62 Buckingham Gate, which completed in 2013, include Mediobanca, WorldRemit and Chime Communications.
Kaela Fenn-Smith, Head of Commercial at Land Securities, said: “We are really pleased that Ciber UK Ltd has chosen Victoria for its business location and we welcome them to 62 Buckingham Gate. We are delighted the building is fully let and Ciber adds another dimension to the variety of businesses in the building.”
62 Buckingham Gate is a mixed use development with 259,700 sq ft of office space and 15,600 sq ft of retail units at the ground and upper basement floors.
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Posted on January 18, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
70 FIREFIGHTERS tackled a blaze at offices in Chiswick in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The first floor and roof of the building at Strand-on-the-Green, overlooking the Thames, were badly damaged in the fire. Nobody was injured in the huge fire although a dozen local residents were evacuated for their safety.
The riverside offices, close to Kew Bridge, are the west London offices of talent agency James Grant Group.
A statement on the James Grant website said:
“We are sad to report that in the early hours of [Sunday] morning a fire broke out at our Kew Bridge office, London, causing serious damage to the building… Our sincere thanks go out to the emergency services who attended the site. They did an outstanding job of controlling the fire and limiting the damage as much as possible.”
Crews from Acton, Chiswick, Richmond, Heston, Ealing, Kingston, Kensington, Southall and Hammersmith fire stations attended the fire and had it under control by 4.30am.
Station Manager Carl St Paul who was at the scene said: “Our crews worked extremely hard in challenging conditions to get this fire under control and to stop it from spreading to neighbouring properties. Thankfully no-one was inside the office building when the fire broke out but around 12 people from homes close by were evacuated during the incident as a precaution.”
Elsewhere on Offices.org.uk: Search for office space in Chiswick, west London.
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Posted on January 11, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
SERVICED office space provider The Office Group has taken 45,000 sq ft of office space at 20 Eastbourne Terrace in Paddington, London.
The pre-letting is the first to be announced by developer Land Securities at the 18 storey office building which is currently being extensively refurbished.
The Office Group’s deal will see them take eight floors in the tower which is due for completion in April 2016. The refurbished property will include a café, collaboration and business lounge at ground floor, a roof garden, cycle storage facilities and showers.
Kaela Fenn-Smith, Head of Commercial at Land Securities, said: “We’re delighted that The Office Group has signed our first office pre-let. The flexible space The Office Group offers will be beneficial to our current and future customers in Eastbourne Terrace creating an exciting hub for businesses in the centre of Paddington.”
The Office Group has existing business centres across central London and also has sites in Bristol and Leeds.
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Posted on January 11, 2016 by Offices.org.uk
OFFICES in London that were once used by famed author Charles Dickens were hit by fire last week.
The London Fire Brigade were called out to a small electrical fire at a cafe in Wellington Street in Covent Garden.
It was from these offices that Dickens published his weekly magazine All The Year Round and kept private apartments from 1859 to the year of his death in 1870.
See the heritage Blue Plaque that marks the property in Wellington Street, London.
The property now houses a cafe on the ground floor with residential flats above.
Two fire engines and 10 fire fighters tackled the small fire in which there was no injuries.
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Posted on December 7, 2015 by Offices.org.uk
PROPOSALS for a mega-skyscraper in the City of London at 1 Undershaft have been unveiled.
The huge 73-storey tower would be 309 metres tall – the same height as the iconic Shard on the other side of the Thames. The building would trump the 278-metre tall 22 Bishopsgate development approved by planners last month.
Designs for the tower have gone display today at a public exhibition at the Bishopsgate Institute.
Nicknamed the Trellis, the new tower would have a public viewing gallery at the top and a new public square at the bottom. It would replace 118-metre tall St Helen’s Tower which was built at the site in the late 1960s.
The architect behind the Aroland Holdings-backed scheme is Eric Parry, responsible for other projects in the City including 10 Paternoster Square, 10 Fenchurch Avenue and 60 Threadneedle Street.
Parry commented, “1 Undershaft will create more of the quality office space that is desperately needed in the capital and will reconnect the city’s tall building cluster with the public.
“This building will set new standards for the City in terms of comfort, quality, environmental sustainability and putting the public at the heart of the tower.”
Final plans for 1 Undershaft will be submitted to the City of London Corporate for planning approbal next year.
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Posted on December 4, 2015 by Offices.org.uk
A BRAND new building offering over 120,000 sq ft of office space in London’s Shoreditch has been approved by local councillors.
Members of Hackney Council’s Planning Sub-Committee this week gave the green light to the proposals for the scheme at 201-207 Shoreditch High Street and 1 Fairchild Street.
The property is at the southern end of the “Shoreditch Triangle”, close to the London Borough of Hackney’s borders with Tower Hamlets and the City of London.
In addition to the creative office and co-working space, a 200-key hotel is planned with a skylounge at the top of the 106 metre tall building.
Developers HG Europe and Folgate Estates are behind the thirty-storey building, designed by architects Gensler The site, which was previously home to a theatre and cinema destroyed by a WWII bomb, is currently occupied by a wine merchants and a sauna.
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