Short Gardens
CLIENT:
Shorts Gardens Limited
ARCHITECTS:
Buckley Gray Yeoman
STATUS:
Under construction
Legendre UK was appointed by property development and investment company Shorts Gardens Developments Limited (a JV partnership between Pearl and Coutts and Span Group) to lead the refurbishment of a complex site made up of two buildings located in the heart of London’s West End.
The project, designed by architectural practice Buckley Gray Yeoman with delivery managed by AWW, includes the refurbishment and conversion of an historical logistics building on Shorts Gardens. With a rich history as a private electrical station, home to London Electricity Board and believed to have been used by the Ministry of Defence during World War 2, the rejuvenated building will be a mix of commercial space including offices and shell-and-core restaurant space. This will involve splitting the 7.5-metre-high basement into two levels, as well as the addition of two floors on top of the building. Overall, the project will achieve significant improvements to the quality and amount available floorspace.
The second building, a former warehouse on Betterton Street, will be converted into four high-end homes, including a modern extension duplex apartment located in the two floors that will be added on top of the existing structure. A mezzanine floor will also be used for retail.
As well as the structural work, a number of contextual elements had to be factored into the project, including a tunnel for the Elizabeth Line running under the site, multiple party walls, including one shared with a UKPN substation, and the very narrow streets around the buildings, making this site extremely complex and technically challenging.
The scheme reached a significant milestone with a topping out ceremony held on site on Friday 17 March 2023.