New developer ‘to create 50 per cent cheaper offices’

Peter Rogers, left and Stuart Lipton

The high-profile new venture between two of the most prominent developers in London will focus on creating large scale office buildings that are half as cheap as current standard designs. Lipton Rogers has been formed by Stuart Lipton, formerly of Chelsfield Partners and Peter Rogers, the former technical director of Stanhope who stepped down last year. The new business will look  to put into practice the results of research commissioned in 2011 by Lipton which found that new buildings could be created far more cheaply than is currently the case. Following the announcement of the formation of the company in mid January, Lipton told The Times: ‘Growth is tough at the moment, and I am a great believer in listening to the market. The action is in places where traditionally we have not had to look, such as the technology, media and telecoms sector, where consumers don’t want plain glass boxes for offices. It is in the tough times like this that the property market gets innovative. We have to think about new ways of doing things, and large and complicated projects are our bag.’

The firm has now spoken for the first time about what this innovation will entail. Speaking to Building magazine for an interview published this morning Rogers said: ‘The market has changed dramatically from where it was in 2007. The question is whether we can design very cost-effective projects – that’s the opportunity we’ve seen,’ he said. Rogers said the firm would look to implement the principles of Lipton’s 2011 research, including pared-down designs and standardised components.