Planners back Endurance’s Tech City scheme

Endurance Land has been handed a resolution to grant planning permission for its 700,000 sq ft Tech City tower, EC1. The London Borough of Islington said it was likely to approve the retrofit and extension of the existing office building, which was built as a headquarters for Inmarsat in the early 1990s. Inmarsat is set to relocate early next year. The 99 City Road scheme, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, will rise to 35-storeys and act as an innovation hub – designed to attract knowledge tenants to rejuvenate Tech City. The majority of the existing building’s structure will be retained, including the foundations and basement. Endurance is applying a “retain-first” approach to reduce embodied carbon and construction traffic. A new core will be inserted and additional floors added to create a hybrid old/new structure. The plans also propose improving the public realm with a new public square, as well as widening some pedestrian pinch points. Some 45,000 sq ft of the office space will be dedicated affordable workspace – effectively doubling the current provision across Islington. Endurance is targeting embodied carbon below 600kg of CO2 per sq m, as well as BREEAM Outstanding, NABERS five-star and WELL Core Platinum. Chief executive Jonathan Fletcher said: “The redevelopment will deliver a landmark, net zero scheme that is tailored to Islington and Old Street, drastically improve the building’s sustainability credentials, offer generous community benefits, and unlock the potential of the site. It’s an incredible achievement to design a tower of this calibre.” DP9 acted as planning consultant; Avison Young is project managing the scheme. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Image © Aesthetica for KPF and Endurance Land