黑洞社区

Galliford Try has pulled off a coup by landing a 拢50m-plus contract to refurbish the former headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland in the City of London.

Major building jobs in the Square Mile have traditionally been dominated by firms such as Multiplex, Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine but Galliford Try has nipped in to overhaul 280 Bishopsgate.

The 15-storey building (pictured) was designed by Foggo Associates and completed in 2001 with RBS moving in a year later.

But the firm put the block up for sale in 2018 as part of cost-cutting move which has included the closure of more than 350 RBS branches and over 630 NatWest branches.

Most staff have moved to the bank鈥檚 revamped 250 Bishopsgate a few doors away with others moving to offices in Angel and Bank.

The building was put on the market with a 拢170m price tag and was bought late last year for 拢190m by CBRE Global Investors fund Europe Value Partners 2 in partnership with Arax Properties.

Galliford Try鈥檚 deal is with Arax and will see 264,500 sq ft of office space refurbished to Category A level, along with full fit-out to the core and reception areas.

Work will include building a dual reception, designed by architect MoreySmith, to span the full length of the building and connect Bishopsgate with the green spaces of Bishops Square in neighbouring Spitalfields.

Completion is due next autumn with global law firm Baker McKenzie, currently based near Blackfriars station, signing up earlier this month to take more than 150,000 sq ft of space at the site.