Smiths Group secures new ‘green’ global headquarters in central London
The Arbor building is by Blackfriars station
/ Native LandTSE 100-listed engineering giant Smiths Group has revealed it will relocate its HQ to a large new “green” office block on London’s South Bank that has just completed.
The firm has inked a deal for 13,600sq ft which will be used by around 170 employees at Arbor, a 223,000sq ft all-electric building designed by PLP Architecture that is net-zero carbon in operation.
Smiths Group is expected to move from smaller space at St James’s Square by the end of the year and will join other tenants at the site including The Carbon Trust. There are active negotiations on a further 78,000sq ft in the building.
The letting comes as firms are increasingly looking at their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, and there has been demand for more environmentally friendly offices, even if teams are only in them for part of the week as hybrid working remains popular.
Arbor is the first property to complete at the large mixed-use Bankside Yards scheme next to Blackfriars station. It is being created by a joint venture that includes developer and investor Native Land, alongside Temasek, Amcorp Properties Berhad and Hotel Properties Limited of Singapore.
Property agents Cushman & Wakefield, Ingleby Trice and Knight Frank advised on the latest letting.
Meanwhile German property investment company Patrizia said it has submitted plans to deliver a ”wellness-led” office development at 30 Minories in the City. It will replace the existing “obsolete” building with a 16-storey office, retail and leisure complex.
Richard Scutt, director of real estate development UK & Ireland at Patrizia, said: “30 Minories is a very exciting new office development for Patrizia and our partners, Morgan Capital and PLP Architecture. This scheme, which is the perfect fit for the local area, will provide amazing new grade A space for occupiers, thanks to its strong ESG, wellbeing and smart connectivity credentials.”