AXA Investment Managers Alts has set plans in motion for a 46-storey office tower on St Mary Axe in the City of London.
The investment manager had already launched a virtual consultation over the future of Camomile Court (pictured) and 63 St Mary Axe, EC3, a pair of 1980s office buildings close to Liverpool Street station.
Now, an environmental impact assessment report lodged with the City of London Corporation has revealed fresh details of what the likely new scheme will be: a 46-storey mixed-use tower with close to 100,000 sq ft of office space and more than 80,000 sq ft of space for mixed commercial and cultural uses, including retail, food and beverage and an auditorium.
In its consultation, AXA IM Alts described the existing buildings as an “important, but underutilised site”, saying that in addition to “substandard sustainability credentials, the workspace no longer meets the needs or expectations of modern workplace occupiers, with low floor to ceiling heights, servicing equipment which is reaching the end of its serviceable life and a lack of external amenity space for workplace tenants”.
It added: “The site is also a hostile place for pedestrians, with narrow pavements, blank frontages and very little greenery.”
In the buildings’ place the investment manager aims to create “a new landmark building… delivering best-in-class workspace which sits harmoniously with its neighbours”.
It said: “Our proposals will also provide a focus on new urban greening, include significant improvements made to the surrounding public realm, and develop a new cultural and educational offer at lower levels.”
Image © EG
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