黑洞社区

John McAslan & Partners has been appointed to design a replacement for a terrace of buildings in the heart of St James鈥檚, central London.

The Crown Estate wants to demolish 78-79 Jermyn Street, a corner building which was largely rebuilt after the Blitz, and 34-36 Duke Street St James鈥檚 which date from 1860 but were repaired after being damaged in the same wartime bombing raid, which killed singer Al Bowlly.

In their place is planned a six-storey development of offices and shops that reads as two buildings.

The site, part of a development called Duke鈥檚 Court, is on a crossroads with views to the Royal Academy 60m away.

As part of the scheme six flats will be created a block to the west at 33 Bury Street, restoring the upper floors of that building to their original residential use.

Anthea Harries, St James鈥檚 portfolio manager at landowner the Crown Estate, said: 鈥淭he plans propose the creation new, high-quality retail and office space, set within modern architecture designed to seamlessly blend with the historic surroundings of Jermyn Street.鈥�

The 3,300sq m scheme is part of the Crown Estate鈥檚 ongoing 拢500 million investment in the area.

A few streets away, just south of Piccadilly Circus, it is working on the 25,000sq m St James鈥檚 Market office and shopping complex designed by Ken Shuttleworth鈥檚 practice, Make. This was described by the Crown Estate as 鈥減erhaps the most significant development we have ever undertaken鈥�.