McLaren is preparing to head to site to begin work on a timber-frame office building, described as the UK’s largest of its kind, after the central London project secured a £100m funding boost.
Named Xylo, the nine-storey development will rise at the junction of Gray’s Inn Road and Clerkenwell Road in Clerkenwell. McLaren’s contract, already signed, is understood to be worth around £80m.
Erith has been handling demolition and groundworks on the site, which previously housed retail units including a bank and a phone shop. The plot has sat vacant for the past few months, but that is about to change after developer Global Holdings Group agreed a £105m deal with Dutch bank ING to finance the scheme.
ING said the so-called green loan “has been structured as a green facility, with proceeds earmarked specifically to support the project’s environmental objectives”.
Samuel Ellis, head of UK Real Estate at ING, said: “This is the kind of project where sustainable finance genuinely matters. This financing supports a development that materially reduces carbon while delivering high-quality workspace. That combination is rare and it’s exactly where we want to deploy capital.”
Xylo will span 97,000 sq ft and feature 3,640 sq ft of town hall-style space including a bar, lounge and auditorium. It will also include a 3,800 sq ft rooftop garden, five landscaped terraces, plus cycle parking and shower facilities.
The building’s glulam beams and cross-laminated timber structure will be supplied by William Hare subsidiary Hybrid Structures.
The wider project team includes architect Piercy & Co, cost consultant Pryme Four, project manager Avison Young, structural engineer Heyne Tillett Steel and M&E consultant Max Fordham.
