Sir Robert McAlpine wins race to build £750m Fitzrovia scheme

Sir Robert McAlpine has won the race to build a major mixed-use scheme on the former Middlesex Hospital site in central London.

The Fitzrovia-based project - thought to be worth up to £750m and being developed by Exemplar Properties - has been designed by architects Sheppard Robson and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands won planning back in February.

Sir Robert McAlpine has won the contract - estimated to be worth up to £160m - after beating off competition from Laing O’Rourke.

Before the shortlist was narrowed to the final two, other contractors in the running had included Balfour Beatty and Mace.

The site is one of the largest in central London and was once part-owned by the Candy brothers, who dubbed their proposed development ‘NoHo Square’.

This plan was halted after planners rejected the scheme and Icelandic bank Kaupthing - which was backing the project - went into administration, prompting the Candys to pull out.

Under the new plan, the brownfield site will become a mixed-use community, centred around two buildings and a landscaped public square containing a listed hospital chapel.