Work involves demolishing two buildings and replacing them with Make design

Mace has picked up a deal to build a new £75m office block in a conservation area in the middle of London, ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø understands.

The firm has beaten Lendlease to the job at 180 Piccadilly which is being developed by Great Portland Estates.

The job involves replaces two existing buildings on the site, dating from the 1950s and 1960s, with an eight-storey scheme designed by Make Architects.

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The proposal at 180 Piccadilly has been drawn up by Make

It was given planning in 2021 by Westminster City Council but these plans have been amended to include using recovered steel beams from another GPE job to help create open floor plans throughout by removing supporting columns in the consented scheme.

The revised plans were sent in to the council at the beginning of last month.

GPE said using the reclaimed steel would help save up to 700 tonnes of carbon emissions and improve the layout of the building.

The site is in the St James’s Conservation Area and is close to the Royal Academy and upmarket retailer Fortnum and Mason. Work will include flattening the French Railways House, a 1960s modernist landmark previously used as the headquarters of French state-owned railway firm SNCF.

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The scheme will replace the 1960s French Railways House

The other building on the site, the 1950s 48-50 Jermyn Street, is not listed and has been deemed too difficult to retrofit.

Others working on the scheme includes M&E consultant Hoare Lea and QS T&T Alinea.

Last week, GPE’s proposals to redevelop a site close to Reno Piano’s Shard was turned on appeal by communities secretary Michael Gove.

Its scheme at One New Court proposed to build a tower of different heights. The tallest would have been 37 storeys with an alternative of 26 storeys. Both were designed by AHMM.