British Land demolish listed Broadgate building for new UBS headquarters

It was recently announced that property development company, British Land and private equity firm Blackstone Group have been granted permission from the UK government to develop new UK headquarters for Swiss bank UBS in the City of London.

However, the creation of the new UBS headquarters means demolishing 1980’s development- 4 & 6 Broadgate, designed by architect Peter Foggo. Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt went against advice given by English Heritage, who advised that the site be protected.

The government were advised that the Broadgate site should be protected because it was one of the most successful properties of the 1980’s and had a significant influence on future architectural design.

English Heritage commented: "It would have been entirely possible to consider significant alteration to the inherently flexible Broadgate Square buildings while enabling the original scheme's intrinsic qualities to shine as an exemplar of commercial development in the City."

The new Broadgate building is expected to comprise of 700, 000 sq ft of office space, which will make it the biggest building in the City of London. The completion date is expected to by 2016.

Chris Grigg, British Land said the move, "allows Broadgate to continue to evolve as a sustainable and flexible office location that will meet the future needs of occupiers whilst maintaining the sense of space and place for which it is rightly renowned around the globe."

Source: British Land, Blackstone get London's OK for UBS

Click here to view serviced office space in the City of London

Related Articles:

British Land win sustainable business award for biodiversity

British Land- "It's about focusing on high quality retail and Central London office space"

British Land pre-lets 10 floors of office space to Aon in the Cheese Grater building