London & South East

Eton Street takes shape

A new five-storey mixed-use development is currently under construction to bring office and retail space to the town of Richmond.

One Eton Street is being built on Eton Street and Lower George Street on the site of a former retail and office block that was demolished in 2010. Dutch property investor Wereldhave is funding the £14 million project, which will comprise 40,000 sq ft of office space and 26,000 sq ft of retail space. The office space will cover the top three floors, whilst the retail space will be located on the ground and basement floors.

Natural and organic food retailer Whole Foods Markets will lease the retail element of the building.

BAM Nuttall is the main contractor, whilst Garnett & Partners is the architect and Drivers Jonas Deloitte is the commercial property consultant for the project.

Work began on One Eton Street in September 2010, when the existing building on the site was demolished. This was followed by the construction of a concrete frame for the first three floors of the new building.

At the moment, work is focused on the steel-frame construction of the top two storeys of the building.

Once the superstructure is in place, windows will then be installed using a mixture of timber and metal frames in order to make the building wind and water tight. The internal fit-out of the building will then include the installation of the main electrical services, lighting and ceilings. The exterior of the building will feature a brick and reconstituted stone facade.

One Eton Street is working towards a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’ on both the retail and office areas of the building. In order to achieve this, a variable refrigerant volume (VRV) air conditioning system will be installed. The VRV system is an efficient air conditioning system that will allow greater control of the heating and cooling apparatus in order to reduce energy waste.

In addition to the VRV system, energy efficient lighting will also be installed in the building to establish a lighting system that is capable of turning itself off when not in use. The future tenants of the building will also be expected to adhere to energy efficiency guidelines to ensure that One Eton Street will continue to remain as sustainable as possible.

Drivers Jonas Deloitte Assistant Director, Christopher Husband, said:

“When we started working on the development, our first concern was how to divide up the retail space on the ground and basement levels.

At first we considered splitting the space vertically into two so that we could create two separate units that would provide potential retailers with both a ground and first floor level. As it turned out, we didn’t need to do this as we were soon approached by Whole Foods Markets who expressed an interest in taking all of the retail space across both floors.

“This worked well for the development of the building and has really helped us to construct a structure that residents and visitors to Richmond will be proud of for years to come.

“Early indications suggest that the building will meet the BREEAM standard that we are trying to achieve. In addition, BAM Nuttall has been awarded high marks under the Considerate Contractors Scheme for the work they have conducted so far.

“It is fantastic to see One Eton Street come together and we’re immensely proud to be involved with this project.”

One Eton Street is scheduled for completion in September 2012.

 

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