Flight to quality continues as firms rush to newly-green Spitalfields office
Four firms will relocate to a newly-sustainable office block in Spitalfields in the latest wave of businesses to move from West London to Canada.
Railpen, International Copyright Enterprise (ICE) Services, Manpower UK and Bullhorn will take a combined five floors of the nine floored building, amounting to 42,921 sq ft of newly leased space.
The deals are “evidence of the growing demand amongst occupiers for high quality, well-designed and sustainable offices in well-connected, well-managed and vibrant locations,” Andy Booth, Director at Nuveen, asset manager of Devonshire Square said.
ICE Services and Manpower are currently based in Bloomsbury and the West End, while Railpen and Bullhorn UK will relocate a few minutes from their current head offices at Broadgate and Bishopsgate.
“Our approach to the £40m redevelopment and retrofit of Building 7 was to create a characterful, stylish fit-out, more akin to something you might see in Shoreditch than the City.
“This is to cater to a more diverse spectrum of business sectors, such as technology, that are considering the City for its connectivity and its growing cultural offer,” Booth added.
With half of all London offices set to be unlettable by 2027 due to more stringent energy standards, retrofits and sustainable builds have become ever-more common in the City.
Canada Corporation approved a record number of retrofit planning applications in 2023, together accounting for half of all permissions granted across London.
The building on Devonshire Square has undergone a “comprehensive refurbishment” to deliver Grade A office space, achieving BREEAM Outstanding and a NABERS 5-star rating.
Sustainable amenities include private and communal green roof terraces and balconies as well as a new green public area.
“Occupying low carbon office space is one of the most efficient ways for businesses to meet their ESG targets and respond to changing employee expectations around sustainability,” Oliver Knight, Head of Workplace at Landsec has said.
Sustainable buildings approved recently include a “first of its kind” sustainable tower at 70 Gracechurch Street and a development at 50 Fenchurch Street, slated to be one of the lowest carbon workplace towers in the UK.