ISG is underway on a £40 million project for Tishman Speyer to refurbish and upgrade Fleetway House, an eight-storey commercial office building on Farringdon Street in central London. Creating additional office accommodation is a key objective of the project and ISG will increase capacity by approximately 50 per cent, to 157,000 sq ft, by adding four-storeys at roof level and extending the footprint of the building into a rear courtyard area.

The four-storey addition to Fleetway House has been innovatively designed to comply fully with the City of London’s ‘St Paul’s Heights’ planning policy, which protects and enhances local views of St Paul’s Cathedral on the London skyline. The use of a cellular beam construction system enables all mechanical & electrical services to be contained within the actual steel structure. This has allowed ISG to achieve the requisite floor to ceiling height across these four additional floors, a feat which would not have been achievable using traditional construction techniques.

To maximise the lettable space and achieve a modern, open plan floor plate, ISG will form a new lift core by infilling an existing light well within the building. Space within the existing lift core will then be rationalised to increase overall office accommodation across every level. The project also sees ISG strip out and refurbish the building to a high specification, installing raised access floors, suspended ceilings and new mechanical & electrical services.

In addition to extending upwards, ISG will also increase the overall footprint of the existing building by constructing an eight-storey steel frame extension within the courtyard at the rear of Fleetway House. A new entrance and reception area will also be formed and the building has been re-designed to achieve a ‘Very Good’ BREEAM environmental rating, incorporating a green sedum roof on the ninth floor. Externally, the Farringdon Street façade will be re-clad with a metal and glass finish and the four-storey roof extension will feature a striking faceted curtain walling design.

Steve Trotter, Managing Director of ISG commented: “As one of Tishman Speyer’s largest commercial office refurbishments within the UK, Fleetway House highlights the continuing strength of demand for high specification office accommodation within the Capital. Working within a highly regulated geographical area of London, we have worked closely with our client to develop and incorporate a number of innovative solutions, which have proved instrumental in achieving the specific requirements for enhanced capacity.”

Email: nick.hann@isgplc.com