Welput receives planning consent for the refurbishment and extension of the Farringdon Road Estate to deliver high quality, sustainable commercial space
London (November 24, 2021) — BentallGreenOak has been granted consent for a scheme designed by Fathom Architects to revive and extend a series of four former warehouse buildings in Clerkenwell. The scheme targets significant improvements to the carbon footprint of the assets, and creates a coherent new identity designed to enhance the tenant experience.
The project at 143-157 Farringdon Road – a short walk from Farringdon Crossrail station – is part of BentallGreenOak’s Welput portfolio of world class Central London office assets. Designed to successfully reposition the buildings in an evolving market, the available space will be increased by almost 10,000 sq ft with significant upgrades to the quality of workspace creating private and communal terraces and improving circulation. Upgraded shopfronts activate space for coworking, retail and cafes, and a reconfigured basement supports sustainable travel with cycle storage, lockers and showers.
Poor energy performance across the four buildings was addressed by taking a holistic view. A complete overhaul of the MEP services strategy targets a reduction of the development’s whole life carbon performance to achieve a 32% improvement on GLA’s ‘Aspirational Benchmark’. In addition, the future occupiers will benefit from natural ventilation on all floors and a 3,000 sq ft communal roof terrace to enhance the wellness attributes of the development as well as support the reduction in operational carbon.
Ker Gilchrist, Managing Director at BentallGreenOak said, “This is not about trying to squeeze out more lettable floorspace, but rather focussing on the quality of the floorspace we can offer our customers. The Farringdon Road Estate is in an enviable location when it comes to the significant infrastructure gain that Farringdon is going to see when the new Elizabeth Line station opens in summer 2022. We will have over 66,000 sq ft of super-flexible office space on conclusion of the planned works, providing a range of suites sizes with first class end of journey facilities and the standard of outdoor spaces that aspirational occupiers are looking for.”
Rebecca Thomas, Director at Fathom Architects said: “Creating renewed life and purpose for existing buildings is a challenge we love at Fathom. The Farringdon Road building is a robust warehouse in a fantastic location, but just wasn’t working from either an occupier or landlord perspective. Through a rigorous process of research and collaboration with our client and consultant team, we are very proud to have developed a design which revives this handsome Victorian building as a desirable modern workspace which supports wellbeing and has high sustainability credentials.”
