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Skanska is beginning the new year on a high after being tipped to land the 20 Ropemaker Street office scheme in the City of London.

ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø understands the firm was appointed preferred bidder for the 27-storey scheme just before Christmas.

Among the firms Skanska has beaten is Sir Robert McAlpine, which pipped it to land the 21 Moorfields office block in the City of London in the autumn. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre, this scheme will be the new London home of Deutsche Bank.

The 20 Ropemaker scheme has been designed by Make Architects with the building’s reception, which doubles as a bar, to be built opposite the entrance to Moorgate station with planned retail units set to be built on Finsbury Pavement.

Developer on the job is Old Park Lane Management and CORE. It will include around 415,000 sq ft of office space.

The stepped tower will feature five roof terraces and be 128m tall at its highest point.

Consultants on the scheme include QS WT Partnership, structural engineer Waterman and services engineer Hilson Moran.

Also in the running for 20 Ropemaker, which was given planning just over a year ago and is understood to have a construction cost north of £150m, was Multiplex.

Both McAlpine and Multiplex are understood to have lost to Mace for the £350m scheme to build Renzo Piano’s Cube in west London for developer Sellar, which is due to formally confirm Mace’s appointment by the middle of this month.