Green light for UK’s largest full timber building

Architect Piercy&Company will redevelop the former Holborn Town Hall in Central London.

Camden Council unanimously approved the planning application for two buildings, the main timber office block and a second mixed-use residential space. 

Piercy&Company anticipate that the timber structure of the main building will surpass the UK Green Building Council’s Net Zero Office target by more than 50%.

Real estate Developer Global Holdings is leading the development and are planning to start enabling works this Summer, with a completion date of early 2026, according to Architects’ Journal.

Full scope 

Spanning around 9,000 sqm, the full timber frame building will include the following features:

• Eight floors of workspace.
• A communal roof terrace and yoga deck. 
• Five landscaped terraces with city views. 
• A restaurant at ground level. 
• Commuting hub. 

Additionally, Piercy&Company will build the full timber structure using a glulam frame with cross-laminated timber slabs. 

The structural embodied carbon of this structure will be lower than that of a typical office building, having 2,400TCO2e stored in the timber.

Regarding the second building, Piercy&Company will refurbish 88 Gray’s Inn Road, spanning 1,100 sqm, into a space for local entrepreneurs and creatives. 

This structure will include six affordable flats and an affordable workspace on the ground floor. 

Partners 

Piercy&Company’s project team includes the following firms: 

• Heyne Tillett Steele: structural engineer.
• Avison Young: project management & employers agent. 
• Eckersley O’Callaghan: facade. 
• Norman Rourke Pryme (NRP): quantity surveyor.
• Fox Fernley Landscape Office: landscape architect.
• Gerald Eve: planning.
• Max Fordha: MEPH engineer and building consultant. 
• Maze Fire: fire engineering.
• Ignis Consulting: fire design. 

Piercy&Company was approached for further information.

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