British Land to join 'Sustainable cities and tall buildings'

Image: CGI of the re-modelled Euston Tower - courtesy of British Land / 3XN Architects

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Tim Downes, Development Director at British Land, will be contributing to our 'Sustainability and tall buildings' forum this March at EY's More London HQ by the Thames.

The forum will look at investment in office, science and housing in city districts and whether it is more sustainable to build tall towers for density than follow the more traditional suburban model. The economics of remodelling and retrofitting tall buildings will also be discussed.

British Land will be joined by the Corporation of London, developer EDGE, Pilbrow & Partners, LDA Design, Grimshaw and Mace Group among others.

Last March plans were approved by Camden Council for British Land to transform Euston Tower into c.560,000 sq ft of premium workspace and public realm at its Regent’s Place campus in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.

British Land says:

'The plans are for a highly sustainable, world-class building at the Regent’s Place campus in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter, home to Europe’s pre-eminent and growing tech ecosystem. 

'The project will deliver a unique new workspace for the West End and create a new focal point in the skyline, comprising 19,000 sq ft floor plates, 360-degree views across central London, terraces and shared amenity spaces for collaboration, to support a strong ecosystem for businesses to network, generate ideas and launch products.

'The plans also feature 4,000 sq ft of restaurant and café space, with terraces overlooking a revitalised public realm, as well as 8,000 sq ft of enterprise space for local entrepreneurs, start-ups and inclusive innovation.

'Regent’s Place sits in the heart of the Knowledge Quarter, close to internationally renowned academic and research institutions such as UCL, UCLH and The Francis Crick Institute, making it well positioned to capture the increasing demand for high quality, well located workspace from science and technology businesses.'

Michael Wiseman, Head of UK Office Leasing, Life Science and Innovation at British Land, explained at our Here East hosted forum back in September 2023:

'Our model at British Land is very much focused on campuses for our life science and innovation business. A building is one thing (with apologies to architects!) but it is also the public spaces, the retail, the restaurants and everything else which makes somewhere a great place to be. These businesses are trying to hire smart young people who want to work in vibrant places. It's about so much more than just sitting in a building. We don't roll out a single model, it's a campus approach and we try and make places that are contextual and that fit into the local area.

'One of the ways our business has changed over the past few years is that we see ourselves as custodians of pieces of city and we think about how they integrate into the areas around. At Regent's Place our campus is integrated into the Knowledge Quarter (of King's Cross St Pancras), at Canada Water where we have 53 acres we really focus on making a place not just for new entrants buying a flat there, but also the existing community. We have more people in our community team than we do in the commercial team buying and selling assets and that speaks a lot to how seriously we take this engagement. Canada Water was 10 years through the planning process, talking to local communities, and we have to feel that we are working for that area of London. it is the heart of what we do.'

Image: Michael Wiseman of British Land with microphone speaking during the opening panel of Future Cities Forum 'Innovation Cities; at Here East with a CGI of the re-modelled Euston Tower on the screen behind