Pembroke completes landmark 25 Cannon Street revitalization

International real estate company Pembroke has completed its revitalisation of 120,414 sq ft of high-specification office and mixed-use space at 25 Cannon Street, unveiling a redesigned public garden opposite St Paul’s Cathedral. Global law firm Dechert will be the largest tenant of the office space and will take occupancy in 2023, on a 15-year lease assignment.

Pembroke worked alongside award-winning architecture practice Buckley Gray Yeoman and construction partner BAM to reimagine the distinctive five-storey 25 Cannon Street, with a stunning light-filled double-height reception and the creation of a new 5,400 sq ft roof terrace offering spectacular views of the Dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. At ground level, Pembroke has repurposed space for new retail and F&B uses, that will extend the food and drink offer from vibrant Watling Street through to St Paul’s, enriching the day to evening experience in this central location.

Designed to enable more natural light and better air quality, as well as offering best-in-class end of trip facilities, the modern, high-spec, energy-efficient workspace prioritises occupier wellbeing. 25 Cannon Street has been engineered to a high-performance criteria targeting BREEAM Excellent and the building can now operate fully on renewable power. From retaining the original stone façade and structure to reducing embodied carbon emissions through the construction process, sustainability has been central to the programme.

Nick Moldon, Senior Vice President and Head of UK and Germany at Pembroke, comments: “We’re immensely proud of what we have achieved at 25 Cannon Street working with the City of London Corporation and our project partners. This repositioning programme is strengthening the City’s offer of modern, high-spec office spaces, while adding vitality and day-to-night interest for visitors, to enrich their experience of this thoroughfare from St Paul’s through the bustling Watling Street. In the Reflection Garden, we’ve created an important oasis for connecting with nature, encouraging greater biodiversity and urban greening and we hope contributing to a vibrant and healthy neighbourhood for generations to come.”

The reimagined public space at 25 Cannon Street –the ‘Reflection Garden’ – is prominently located opposite Festival Gardens at St Paul’s. At its centre sits a striking reflection pool, creating a remarkable double view mirroring the famous cathedral dome, whilst allowing natural light to illuminate the basement workspaces below. Delivered in partnership with the City of London Corporation and celebrated landscape and garden design practice, Tom Stuart-Smith, it plays an important role in the City’s long-term recovery, offering a space for visitors and the urban workforce to enjoy the wellbeing benefits of a tranquil green space, while providing new habitats for local wildlife and encouraging greater biodiversity in this corner of the City.

Chair of the City of London Corporation’s Property Investment Board, Andrien Meyers, said: “The newly refurbished 25 Cannon Street is a welcome addition to the Square Mile’s top-quality office, retail and leisure offering. In particular, the City Corporation was pleased to support the new public garden for both workers and visitors to enjoy. With most of the office space already let, it is clear that recovery is well underway, and we hope schemes like this will continue to draw people back into the City post-pandemic.”

Landscape and garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith added: ‘’The revived garden at 25 Cannon St makes a unique contribution to the mosaic of green spaces and gardens around St. Paul’s cathedral. And it is very exciting to be able to celebrate Wren’s magnificent dome by making its reflection an almost surreal, but contemplative centrepiece to this calm green space. I hope it will be a resource for City workers and tourists for years to come.’’

Gus Black, chair of Dechert’s London Management Committee, said: ‘‘This is a stunning building for our people and clients with impeccable environmental credentials, state of the art technology and multi-level outside space that is very rare in this part of the City.’’

Ewen Hunter, Construction Director for the London Region at BAM, said: “BAM is delighted to be part of this successful team creating this superb new commercial building in the heart of London with exceptional high-quality finishes throughout the building finishes, envelope and services that provide leading office facilities. With sustainability at the core of our responsibility for the environment, 25 Cannon Street achieved an excellent embodied carbon result meeting the 2030 LETI target with a ‘A’ rating for commercial developments. Dedication of the project team throughout the delivery was recognised by the City of London’s Considerate Contractor Scheme with two consecutive Gold Awards consistently exceeding the Code of Good Practice working in a safe and considerate manner working closely with local businesses and the community.”

Paul White, Founding Director of Buckley Gray Yeoman, added: “The building’s historically significant position demanded that our approach was sensitive, but sophisticated. We achieved this by creating an enlarged reception space that, together with a new public garden, creates a sensory entrance sequence for the building, which we have re-dressed in a new façade in a contemporary, yet contextualised finish. Internally, the office floors have been enlarged by infilling the original colonnade, removing several satellite cores and repurposing a basement plant area.”

The repositioning of 25 Cannon Street is Pembroke’s fifth major development project in London, having originally developed 25 Cannon Street itself in 2000, and has been completed a few years after Pembroke’s 4 Cannon Street development across the road, where a public garden was also enhanced as part of Pembroke’s commitment to sensitively rejuvenating special locations in London’s beating heart.

Alongside BAM and Buckley Gray Yeoman, Pembroke were supported by a professional team consisting of project management specialist RPM, cost consultancy Alinea, structural engineering firm Waterman, and BREEAM consultant MTT.