The original six-storey neo-classical building has been redeveloped to create 116,000 sq ft of high-quality office space including a stunning light-filled double-height reception.
Three levels of communal terraces afford clear views of London’s landmarks, while the development also includes a new publicly accessible garden with a large reflective pool, capturing St. Paul’s iconic dome.
B&K Structures completed the steel and metal decking package on behalf of BAM Construction, alongside Buckley Gray Yeoman, Waterman Group and Pembroke.
Design
The design for 25 Cannon Street placed emphasis on maximising natural light, promoting better air quality, and providing cutting-edge facilities . The building focuses on creating an environment where employees can thrive, and the glazing has a contemporary yet contextual finish which was part of a wider approach to rationalise the building’s outdated neoclassical features. Key to the brief was opening up views to St Paul’s Cathedral, with concrete cores being removed on each floor to create a centralised set and provide open floorplates.
The three new terraces across levels four and five provide external break-out spaces with glass balustrades and the roof terrace provides large, flexible space for the building’s users during the day or for events, with the Cathedral as a backdrop.
Construction
B&K Structures delivered the full structural steelwork and metal decking refurbishment for 25 Cannon Street, including the innovative tree column structural support of the building from basement to roof, trimmer steels and new lift shafts.
While the massive internal demolition and refurbishment job provided some challenges, the BKS team were innovative throughout and engineered solutions to solve these complex tasks.
The BKS team were particularly proud of the ingenuity behind delivering the north and south core column trees (including large plate girders and cruciform column tree components), which involved jacking the columns up from the basement to install, including the weight of all 7 floors of BKS steel.
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Sustainability
From retaining the original stone façade and structure to reducing embodied carbon emissions through the construction process, sustainability has been central to the programme.
25 Cannon Street has been engineered to a high-performance criteria targeting a BREEAM excellent rating and has been designed to improve energy efficiency and operate on renewable energy. Externally, the re-glazed facade improves the building’s energy performance with enhanced views of St Paul’s Cathedral.
BAM’s Construction Director for the London Region said:
“BAM is delighted to be part of this successful team creating this superb new commercial building in the heart of London. With sustainability at the core of our responsibility for the environment, 25 Cannon Street achieved an excellent embodied carbon result meeting the 2030 LETI target with a ‘A’ rating for commercial developments”.
Chair of the City of London Corporation’s Property Investment Board, Andrien Meyers, said:
“The newly refurbished 25 Cannon Street is a welcome addition to the Square Mile’s top-quality office, retail and leisure offering. In particular, the City Corporation was pleased to support the new public garden for both workers and visitors to enjoy. With most of the office space already let, it is clear that recovery is well underway, and we hope schemes like this will continue to draw people back into the City post-pandemic.”
Gus Black, chair of Dechert’s London Management Committee, said:
‘‘This is a stunning building for our people and clients with impeccable environmental credentials, state-of-the-art technology and multi-level outside space that is very rare in this part of the City.’’