Amazon confirms move to Brookfield's Principal Place

Internet retailer Amazon has confirmed it will be moving into office space in Brookfield’s Principal Place development, in a move that is set to kickstart development of the scheme.

The £290m mixed-use scheme in Bishopsgate, designed by Foster + Partners, has been on hold since January 2012 when law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, which had been lined up as an anchor tenant, pulled out of the scheme.

Developer Hammerson subsequently sold its interest in the scheme to developer Brookfield, along with the rest of its office developments pipeline.

Amazon said the new building, to be called Principal Place, will provide it with “total capacity” for more than 5,000 London employees.

UK boss of Amazon Christopher North said it would give the firm the ability to hire “thousands” of new employees in London in the coming years.

Its current head office is in Slough, the Berkshire town from where it first started running its UK operations back in 1998, but the firm said it would now make Principal Place or its office in Farringdon its new UK headquarters.

Foster’s is also behind a 50-storey residential tower, its first in the capital, which is being launched to the market by Brookfield later this month.

The whole development will also include a new public piazza and around 2,000sq m of retail space.

This story first appeared on Building Design.