January 15, 2013

Urban design ideas needed for Vauxhall missing link

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Workplace design

RIBA has announced the launch of a new international design competition for Vauxhall on London’s South Bank. The Business Improvement District (BID) for Vauxhall is seeking ideas to improve and enhance the public realm, providing the ‘Missing Link’ between the New US Embassy Quarter and the South Bank’s cultural hub. The competition is open to architects, landscape designers, urban designers and students worldwide. As with the New York ‘High Line’ competition multi-disciplinary design teams are encouraged. More →

January 10, 2013

Goldman Sachs submits plans for troubled European HQ

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Following recent reports that a growing number of firms were locating in the burgeoning creative centres of East London,investment bank Goldman Sachs has finally submitted plans for the 1.2m sq ft nine storey headquarters building KPF in Farringdon Street. The KPF-designed development will replace two existing buildings – the 13 storey Fleet Building and adjacent Plumtree Court which Goldman Sachs acquired in 2011.

January 9, 2013

All right? Manchester property outperforms other UK regions

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Property

The idea that the UK is essentially a closely bound federation of city states, each with their own culture and economy is given added credence by new research from CBRE into regional variations in the commercial property market. London does things its own way, of course, but the top regional city is Manchester – the only one of eight centres that showed any evidence of rental growth during 2012, even though it was a modest increase from £29.50 per sq ft to £30 per sq ft. The full report can be viewed here. More →

January 9, 2013

Show stomping change as Maze prison site plans approved

by Sara Bean • News, Property, Workplace design

The notorious Maze Long Kesh prison site in Northern Ireland where the ‘H’ block hunger strikes took place is to be redeveloped into an international standard showground designed by London-based firm Studio Egret West.
The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) was granted planning permission to relocate the Balmoral Show, (Ireland’s largest Agricultural and Food Show) to the site of the former Maze prison, after the Balmoral show outgrew the Kings Hall site where it has been held for 100 years. More →

January 9, 2013

It pays to check the green credentials of manufacturers

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Furniture, Workplace design

Generation from Knoll

There is a theory that when companies talk about issues such as corporate social responsibility they are doing so because it helps them to achieve their business goals. This is the coldly rational thing to do according to people like free market guru Milton Friedman who argues that companies should not actively pursue altruistic ends unless that pursuit is ultimately in the interest of their shareholders. As Friedman puts it: ‘Hypocrisy is virtuous when it serves the bottom line. Moral virtue is immoral when it does not’.

January 7, 2013

Appetite for long leases presents challenges

by Mark Eltringham • Property

The news from the weekend that Axa Real Estate is looking to raise around £1bn to invest in buildings with very long leases has resparked the debate into what sort of lease represents the best value for investors and tenants in these uncertain times. The new fund will target commercial properties with minimum twenty year leases even though investors have to pay a premium for such properties and the majority of occupiers don’t want them. More →

January 3, 2013

Mayor announces green fit-out of 400 buildings

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News, Public Sector

Thirteen building services contractors have been awarded a contract to retrofit around 400 London public sector buildings to make them more energy efficient. The work is being carried out as part of London Mayor Boris Johnson’s RE:FIT initiative. The new programme of work is expected to last four years and will see contractors guarantee a set level of savings based on the energy conservation measures implemented. More →

January 1, 2013

Regional slump responsible for overall UK property fall

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

The New Year starts with news from Chicago based property broker Jones Lang LaSalle that investors spent some £ 30 billion on income generating property in the U.K. during 2012, about 9 percent less than in 2011. However there was a marked disparity between the London market and the rest of the UK. London deals totaled £18 billion in 2012, the highest figure for four years, while purchases outside the capital reached 12 billion pounds, the lowest amount over the same period. More →