Telephone House being redeveloped by Brockton Everlast

A shortlist to build a major office block development on the City fringe is expected in the coming weeks after plans to redevelop a 1960s block were sent in this spring.

Telephone House in Shoreditch is being redeveloped by Brockton Everlast under proposals drawn up by architect Piercy & Co.

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How the proposed scheme will look

The existing eight-storey building on Paul Street has been described as being not 鈥渇it for purpose鈥 and one that 鈥渙ccupies less than 50% of the overall site, with hard landscaping, parking and a loading bay taking up much of the site resulting in a highly inefficient use of scarce land in a central and highly accessible location鈥.

Called Project Bell, the replacement scheme would be up to 10 storeys and run across 20,000 sq m of office space plus around 1,100 sq m of retail space at ground floor.

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The existing building dates back to the 1960s

Plans went in to Hackney Council for the 拢150m scheme at the end of April with a decision expected in the autumn.

Others working on the deal include project manager Blackburn & Co, cost consultant Exigere and services engineer Cundall. Structures consultant is Heyne Tillett Steel.

Commercial work has been helping keep construction buoyant the past few months and yesterday the ONS said a surge in commercial work helped drive a stronger than expected increase in construction output in May.

It said output increased by 1.5% in the month 鈥 the seventh consecutive monthly increase 鈥 to hit its highest level since monthly figures were first recorded in January 2010.