Lend Lease and London and Continental Railways (LCR), joint venture partners delivering The International Quarter, today announced that Transport for London (TfL) has signed a pre-let to occupy a building as part of the second stage of the £2.1 billion development at Stratford.
TfL has pre-let the entirety of the office space within the 265,000 sq ft building, with construction starting this summer. Detailed planning consent has been secured for the building - offering a glimpse of London's newest commercial district.
An estimated 3,000 TfL workers will relocate to the International Quarter's new generation of offices and, once completed, an estimated 25,000 people will work at and visit the site each day.
Lend Lease and LCR are in discussions with a number of other major tenants about moving to The International Quarter - which, at a total of four million square feet, will be one of the largest new commercial developments in London.
The designs have been led by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Vogt Landscape Architects who have been appointed to the major office scheme to work alongside the existing panel of architects. The office will set a new benchmark in commercial accommodation, designed to inspire employees, improve productivity and encourage health and wellbeing in a truly sustainable workplace.
Located at the gateway to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, work is already well underway on the first phase of The International Quarter, a 333-unit residential development named Glasshouse Gardens - overlooking the Aquatics Centre, the former Olympic Stadium and ArcelorMittal Orbit.
Announcing the commercial leasing agreements, Dan Labbad, Chief Executive Officer, International Operations at Lend Lease, said: "Securing TfL for this major pre-let marks the emergence of a new generation of offices in London that will make a lasting contribution to the local economy. Our ambition is to create the most agile, healthy and efficient workplaces."
David Joy, Chief Executive at LCR, said: "We are pleased to have reached this pivotal milestone for one of the largest and most significant mixed-use developments in the UK. The International Quarter will be a major new employment hub in East London, creating more than 25,000 jobs in total, and we have been working closely with Lend Lease to make this happen. Securing the first commercial tenant is a testament to the exceptional commercial environment we are delivering as part of the scheme and can only serve as a catalyst to attract further major employers to the area."
Ivan Harbour, Senior Partner and Lead Designer, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, said: "We are delighted to be working on The International Quarter, which we hope will become a global example of best practice in the development of a new workplace environment. Our tailored approach to the building design creates efficiency, continuity and coherency across the site whilst offering bespoke solutions to meet the specific needs of occupiers. This, together with a similarly coherent ground plane, characterises the neighbourhood as a core piece of the emerging City quarter, whilst the focus on daylight, views, connectivity, community spaces and public realm produces truly cutting-edge workplaces with people at their heart."
Steve Allen, Managing Director of Finance at TfL, said: "We are consolidating our office accommodation into a smaller number of larger buildings. The International Quarter in Stratford provides the ideal opportunity for us to make further progress with its excellent transport links while enabling us to achieve significant savings."
The International Quarter is a central pillar in the regeneration of Stratford, providing the new commercial element and jobs to the area's role as an important sporting, retail, cultural and academic destination. Stratford's recently-announced Olympicopolis will be home to internationally renowned institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sadler's Wells, the Smithsonian Institution, University College London (UCL) and the University of the Arts London (UAL).
The International Quarter is a central pillar in the regeneration of Stratford, providing the new commercial element and jobs to the area's role as an important sporting, retail, cultural and academic destination. Stratford's recently-announced Olympicopolis will be home to internationally renowned institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sadler's Wells, the Smithsonian Institution, University College London (UCL) and the University of the Arts London (UAL).
Jones Lang LaSalle and BNP Paribas represented Lend Lease and LCR, and BNP Paribas Corporate represented TfL.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
For Lend Lease enquiries, please contact: Duncan Pelham, Media Relations Officer at Lend Lease, on 02034309765, 07740407068 or duncan.pelham@lendlease.com or visit www.lendlease.com. For LCR enquiries, please contact: Hanna Smith on 020 7612 8499 / HS@londoncommunications.co.uk or visit www.lcrhq.co.uk
About The International Quarter
At the heart of thriving Stratford and forming a gateway to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the development will offer a whole new working environment for London, giving employees access to transport, parklands, premium shopping and local housing.
The site is one one of the best-connected places in London with a unique combination of Underground, Overground, Mainline and DLR services. It is just eight minutes direct by train from the City. Earlier this year London's Mayor Boris Johnson announced that Stratford will be rezoned from TfL fare Zone 3 to Zone 2/3 from January 2016, recognising London's shift to the east.
For the commercial and residential stages, Lend Lease and LCR have brought together an international team of designers including award-winning Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Vogt Landscape Architects.
About Lend Lease
Lend Lease is a leading international property and infrastructure group. In the UK, it is the only fully integrated retail, residential and commercial provider delivering end-to-end property solutions. The company has core capabilities in development, investment management, construction, asset and property management.
Lend Lease is behind some of London's largest and most exciting mixed-use regeneration projects such as Elephant & Castle and The International Quarter. Lend Lease is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and operates in four key regions - Australia, Asia, Americas and Europe. The group has more than 12,600 employees worldwide.
A leader in sustainable urban regeneration, Lend Lease is also developing Barangaroo South in Sydney, which will be the greenest and most advanced, carbon-neutral financial district in Australia.
About LCR
LCR is a UK Government-owned company whose primary focus is the important regeneration projects at King's Cross, in partnership with Argent and DHL, and The International Quarter, Stratford City, in partnership with Lend Lease, as well as a range of other property interests.
The King's Cross and Stratford schemes together represent over 100 acres of development on strategically important brownfield land and will deliver two thriving new office districts, up to 2,350 homes and billions of pounds of investment to the capital. LCR delivered the award winning HS1 railway, including new stations at Stratford International and Ebbsfleet, as well as the rebirth of St Pancras International. In November 2010, LCR sold HS1 with its 30 year concession for the track and stations to a consortium comprising Borealis Infrastructure and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan for £2.1 billion.
About RSHP
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) is an award-winning, international architectural practice based in London. Over the past three decades, RSHP has attracted critical acclaim with innovative projects across Europe, Asia, Australasia and North America. The practice is experienced in designing a wide range of building types including office, residential, transport, education, culture, leisure, retail, civic and healthcare. The quality of its designs has been recognised with some of architecture's highest awards, including two RIBA Stirling Prizes for Terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas Airport in 2006 and Maggie's Cancer Care Centre, London in 2009.
Set up as The Richard Rogers Partnership in 1977, the practice became Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007 to reflect the growing importance of two of the younger Partners, Graham Stirk and Ivan Harbour, and their role alongside Richard Rogers in the practice's future. RSHP now employs over 200 people, including 9 Partners, 10 Associate Partners and 83 Associates, in offices in London, Sydney and Shanghai.
www.rsh-p.com
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