Laing O’Rourke appointed to deliver Baker Street development for Derwent London

Laing O’Rourke has been appointed by Derwent London to deliver 19-35 Baker Street: a 10-storey commercial, retail, and residential mixed-use scheme in London.

Construction contracts worth £158m have been signed between Derwent London and Laing O’Rourke for the development, which totals 410,000 sq ft gross.

Baker Street is a mixed-use scheme comprising nine storeys of category A office space, 41 premium residences and 21 retail spaces. Construction will begin in June this year and the project is due to be completed H1 2025.

Designed by Hopkins Architects, the development will reduce embodied carbon through DfMA, sustainable procurement, and construction phase efficiencies.

The original design of the building has been modified using Laing O’Rourke’s carbon calculator to identify the carbon intensity of every component of the building and assess changes to the model.

Modern methods of construction will be at the core of the project’s delivery strategy, with Laing O’Rourke drawing on its experience and DfMA led approach to drive efficiencies. During the tender stage, Laing O’Rourke were able to illustrate that the MMC approach is set to cut the main works programme by 16 weeks to 125 weeks.

The company’s architecture and facades team, supported by specialists at its Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction (CEMC), have converted the traditional hand laid brick façade of the George St residences into a pre-cast brick solution, sympathetic to the architectural intent and complementary to the stone-faced pre-cast of the Baker St office building. LOR’s Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction (CEMC) will also manufacture precast walls, floors, and columns, complete with installed glazing systems for the project.

The scheme is further supported by an external supply chain which has been integrated into the construction programme to support the modern methods of construction being used to deliver this landmark project for Derwent London.

Paul McNerney, Director of UK Building, Laing O’Rourke said:

“We are delighted to have been chosen to deliver 19-35 Baker Street, further strengthening our relationship with Derwent London.

“We have collaborated closely with the client team for the past twelve months, and by using our product set we have co-created a DfMA solution that delivers the architectural intent of the building, sustainability objectives and programme gains.

“We are excited to get started and bring to life an exciting vision and a building that supports Derwent’s sustainability strategy.”

Richard Baldwin, Director of Development, Derwent London, said:

“We are pleased to be working with Laing O’Rourke once again who we believe have the capabilities to drive project certainty through pioneering modern methods of construction.

We are very excited by the prospects for 19-35 Baker Street.”

Laing O’Rourke is currently delivering Derwent London’s Soho Place and has just completed the largest of the two buildings. Soho Place is a mixed-use scheme above the new Tottenham Court Road Crossrail Station.