Proposals by Piercy & Company would double size of space at existing 1980s block

British Land has unveiled the latest proposals for its ongoing makeover of its Broadgate campus with a 拢250m plan to overhaul an eight-storey office that dates to the 1980s.

The developer鈥檚 recent projects at the site include Make鈥檚 5 Broadgate, built by Mace, and Hopkins鈥 100 Liverpool Street completed by Sir Robert McAlpine.

McAlpine is already on site with AHMM鈥檚 1 Broadgate, worth around 拢300m, and is expected to start on site later this year with a tower at 2 Finsbury Avenue designed by Danish practice 3XN.

Appold 8

Source: Piercy & Co

Piercy & Co鈥檚 1 Appold Street proposals

Now British Land has submitted proposals to City planners by Piercy & Company to strip a 1980s office building back to its core and extend it upwards.

The scheme is set to have a construction cost of 拢250m with the developer understood to have begun preliminary soundings with contractors about the job.

The current building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and backs on to the grade II-listed Liverpool Street Station shed and the Exchange Square outdoor area.

As well as adding extra storeys to the current structure, the practice鈥檚 plans extend the building鈥檚 floorplates closer to the site perimeter. Under the proposals, balconies would be provided on the new building鈥檚 eastern fa莽ade and there would also be a rooftop pavilion and terrace.

A statement from planning consultancy DP9 said the current building at 1 Appold Street was lower than all other buildings surrounding Exchange Square 鈥 with the exception of the station which is set to undergo a 拢1.5bn revamp by Sellar.

鈥淭he proposed height and massing would respond positively to the scale of the neighbouring commercial developments, which comprise the western edge of the square, resulting in a more consistently scaled framing of the public realm,鈥 it said.

Appold 1.0 GM

Source: Google Maps

The existing scheme by SOM with Make鈥檚 5 Broadgate on the right

The statement said the 鈥済ently curving fa莽ades鈥 of Piercy鈥檚 proposed east and west elevations added 鈥渧isual interest鈥 and would respond positively to the building鈥檚 surroundings. It said the eastern elevation was inspired by Liverpool Street Station, while the Appold Street elevation was 鈥渞eflective of the prominent bend in the road鈥.

DP9 said the project team planned to retain 鈥渢he majority鈥 of the current building鈥檚 existing primary structure, basement and foundations.

In its design and access statement for the project, Piercy said it had explored the possibility of retaining the current building鈥檚 fa莽ades.

But it said the approach would have been an obstacle to creating new active frontages at ground-floor and upper levels, and that all the building鈥檚 windows would have needed to be replaced to meet modern performance requirements and its external walls would have required 鈥渆xtensive upgrading鈥.

Appold 3

Source: Piercy & Co

Piercy鈥檚 Appold Street proposals, seen from Exchange Square

Piercy said the result would have been that just over half of the current fa莽ades needed to be replaced.

British Land鈥檚 team includes project manager Opera, quantity surveyor Core 5, AKTII as structural and fa莽ade engineer, and DSDHA as landscape architect.

The proposals are open to public consultation until 3 February.

Additional reporting by Dave Rogers