Singaporean investor Shorea Capital and Native Land have revealed plans to transform the former HQ of the Lipton Tea Company into a new net zero in operation office development.
The scheme at 188 City Road, EC2, will be known as Sira and is undergoing a retrofit that will see it target a BREEAM Excellent rating and reuse or retain 70% of the existing structure.
The 39,000 sq ft block, originally built as the head office for the Lipton Tea Company, occupies a corner site next to Moorfields Eye Hospital and close to Old Street station in the east London Tech City cluster.
The building’s net floor area will be increased by 36% to 42,000 sq ft through the addition of fourth and fifth floors, a single-storey mansard floor and a rooftop pavilion to create a private terrace for occupiers. The core will be repositioned to provide open-plan floorplates of more than 5,500 sq ft accompanied by high-end amenities, including extensive cycle parking and end-of-trip facilities.
Eng Yaw Ong, managing director at Shorea Capital, said: “Sira is a key addition to our portfolio of high-quality commercial properties. We are proud to be working with Native Land to deliver a future-proof ESG-compliant office building strategically positioned to cater to the growing demand for best-in-class workspace.”
Native Land chief executive Alasdair Nicholls added: “We are committed to delivering sustainable places and adding value through cutting-edge practices. At 188 City Road, we are proud to be working with Shorea, to be retaining the character and embodied carbon of the existing building, while bringing it up to the highest modern workspace standards. With the recent upgrades to the Old Street Roundabout and station, this prime location is now even more exciting and accessible.”
188 City Road was acquired by Shorea Capital in 2021 for £31.1m through its Shorea Capital London Office Fund and is part of the fund’s brown-to-green value-add strategy.
Stiff + Trevillion Architects designed the scheme; 8Build has been appointed as the contractor to deliver the scheme, with a target completion set for Q4 2025.
Savills and Ellis Brown have been appointed as leasing agents.
Image © Stiff + Trevillion
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