Crown Estate picks architect for latest St James's job

John McAslan & Partners has been appointed to design a replacement for a terrace of buildings in the heart of St James’s, central London.

The Crown Estate wants to demolish 78-79 Jermyn Street, a corner building which was largely rebuilt after the Blitz, and 34-36 Duke Street St James’s which date from 1860 but were repaired after being damaged in the same wartime bombing raid, which killed singer Al Bowlly.

In their place is planned a six-storey development of offices and shops that reads as two buildings.

The site, part of a development called Duke’s Court, is on a crossroads with views to the Royal Academy 60m away.

As part of the scheme six flats will be created a block to the west at 33 Bury Street, restoring the upper floors of that building to their original residential use.

Anthea Harries, St James’s portfolio manager at landowner the Crown Estate, said: “The plans propose the creation new, high-quality retail and office space, set within modern architecture designed to seamlessly blend with the historic surroundings of Jermyn Street.”

The 3,300sq m scheme is part of the Crown Estate’s ongoing £500 million investment in the area.

A few streets away, just south of Piccadilly Circus, it is working on the 25,000sq m St James’s Market office and shopping complex designed by Ken Shuttleworth’s practice, Make. This was described by the Crown Estate as “perhaps the most significant development we have ever undertaken”.