Lipton Rogers draws up plans for two-tower office scheme next to Barbican

Lipton Rogers is working up plans with US architect SOM to replace a 1980s office complex next to the Barbican with two new build towers.

The firm is acting as development manager for investment manager La Salle on the 21-storey scheme at 1 Silk Street, the current base of magic circle law firm Linklaters.

The project team for the 100,000 sq m development also includes Spice Architects, the practice set up two years ago by Karen Cook, one of the co-founders of PLP and the lead architect on Lipton Rogers’ 22 Bishopsgate, currently the City’s tallest tower.

Other firms working on the scheme include engineer Arup and planning consultant DP9.

The 1 Silk Street site is currently occupied by two linked buildings of 13 and 17 storeys, Milton House and Shire House, which were built in 1982 and extensively remodelled in 1996.

Lipton Rogers said the two blocks will soon be made unlettable due to requirements for commercial buildings to have a minimum EPC rating of C set to come into force next year.

The firm is planning to demolish them down to their foundations and build two new linked blocks on the site featuring several greenery-covered terraces, according to an early document submitted to the City by environmental consultant Trium.

A full planning application is expected to be submitted next year, with demolition of the site expected to take around 12 months and construction of the new scheme taking three and a half years. The completed building is scheduled to open in 2032.

Lipton Rogers said it had looked at refurbishment options for the site but concluded this would only deliver a “compromised solution” which would not resolve the existing buildings’ “poor quality” office space.

It said a new build option would provide a more energy efficient building with flexible and more daylight-filled workspace, and more space on the ground floor for retail.

Linklaters, the current site’s main occupier, is set to move into new headquarters next year at 20 Ropemaker, the 25-storey building in the east of the City designed by Make and built by Skanska which was being fitted out by ISG before the contractor’s collapse, with the interior work subsequently being taken on by Structure Tone. 

The 1 Silk Street site neighbours another major office development designed by Make, the refurbishment of the 1980s building at 48 Chiswell Street for Berkeley Estate Asset Management.