Permasteelisa wins £35m cladding job at central London barracks being turned into upmarket residential

Permasteelisa has won a £35m deal to carry out cladding and glazing work on a scheme to turn a former London barracks into an upmarket residential plot.

Multiplex has signed up for the £450m scheme at the St John’s Woods Barracks scheme, officially called St John’s Wood Square, which is being let as a shell and core job under a design and build deal. The fit-out, worth around £200m, is expected to be let as a CM deal.

The scheme runs across nine buildings, ranging in height from three to six storeys, and will consist of 179 residential units.

Permasteelisa said it has begun design work at its site in Italy with its work at the barracks starting at the end of this year for completion in summer 2026.

The firm’s chief executive Liam Cummins said: “Due to its size, logistic complexity and challenging timeline [St John’s Square] is the ideal project to further demonstrate our ability to meet the needs of our customers’ expectations.”

The barracks served as the headquarters for the Royal Horse Artillery until 2012, having first being developed as a barracks 200 years earlier when it was the home to the Corps of Gunner Drivers.

It was given planning in 2015 and is in the heart of St John’s Wood, close to Lord’s cricket ground as well as Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park.

Westminster city council first granted planning permission for a residential scheme on the site in 2011 but the developer, St John’s Wood Square Ltd, was then acquired by Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan for a reported £250m.

The developer has said it “intends to provide a high-quality residential environment, which is in keeping with the St John’s Wood area”. Work also involves turning a grade II-listed riding school into an amenity.

The 2015 consent allowed for the provision of 117 private dwellings and 59 intermediate rental affordable dwellings on site, along with 41 social rental homes which will be built offsite at the nearby Old Marylebone Road.

Amendments made in 2022 have taken the total number of homes at the barracks site up by three to 179, in addition to the 41 offsite which need to be completed before the private homes can be occupied.

Others working on the scheme include architect Squire & Partners, which was behind much of the masterplan for the Chelsea Barracks redevelopment, the Qatari Diar scheme carried out by Mace and Multiplex.

Gardiner & Theobald is project manager and QS.