Native Land receives approval for 80,000-sq-ft prime office building at Bankside Yards

Native Land has received approval from the London Borough of Southwark for ‘Building 1’, an 80,000-sq-ft sustainable office building at its Bankside Yards development. The building sits in a prime riverside location in Bankside, with the office floors benefiting from rare and uninterrupted views of St Paul’s Cathedral, the City and the Thames.

Applying its expertise in mixed-use, commercial, and prime residential development, Native Land will develop an 18-storey office building, designed by Make Architects, to standards of design, sustainability, wellbeing and amenity rarely found in the London commercial market.

The approval represents a change from the original consented residential building to strengthen the other commercial space provided across the Bankside Yards estate.

The project has been designed to target the growing market for smaller, higher quality workspaces, reflecting the needs of some high value companies that want prime accommodation and amenity in a compact footprint.

‘Building 1’ will have seven large double height terraces on alternate floors, a communal roof garden with hospitality space, and bookable dining rooms. Its architecture provides an iconic address and creates inside/outside spaces and connectivity to the riverside environment.

Occupiers will also benefit from the amenities of the wider Bankside Yards estate, which include vibrant cultural space and independent shops, cafés and restaurants.

The building sits above Blackfriars Station, connecting it directly to the City and wider South East region, including the life science and knowledge hubs at King’s Cross and Cambridge. The National Rail station at Blackfriars was used by around 6 million people in 2021-22 and connects the Cambridge economic area with London and the south coast.

‘Building 1’ will help occupiers meet their own ESG goals, targeting BREEAM Outstanding and NABERS 5 Star ratings. The highly sustainable building will be part of Bankside Yards’ all-electric energy network, meaning it will generate zero emissions and be net zero carbon in operation. In addition, the innovative double-height cutaway corners overcome site constraints by transferring load to the centre of the building, requiring less structure.

Embodied carbon is reduced further by the building’s 6m x 6m column grid, which optimises structural efficiency.

‘Building 1’ will have high levels of greening on the roof terrace and the surrounding publicly accessible landscape – resulting in a biodiversity rating that is 50% higher than the GLA London Plan standard. The roof terrace – which will have some of the most impressive views in the capital – will be accessible to all tenants.

Each of the floors will have individual controlled air handling units – ensuring that air is fresh and not recycled within the building, which is designed to improve wellness.

Basement levels feature highest standard end-of-trip facilities including changing rooms, showers, cycle and scooter charging points, and 275 cycle spaces – higher than GLA standards.

The building is made up of 6,000-sq-ft floor plates, capable of connecting in pairs to create 6,000 to 12,000-sq-ft suites aimed at boutique high value companies that seek smaller quantities of space in top locations and with outstanding amenities and connectivity.

Jay Squier, Executive Director at Native Land, said:

“The polarisation of London’s office market is becoming clearer as the ‘flight to quality’ continues. The recent tenant signings at Arbor, our first commercial building at Bankside Yards, exemplify the trend and we see ‘Building 1’ as a continuation of this. We are aiming to exceed expectations for the modern, green and healthy workplace in an unrivalled riverside location with outstanding sustainability credentials and views of the City of London.”

Alasdair Nicholls, CEO at Native Land, said:

“The strength of our joint venture partnership with Amcorp Properties, HPL and Temasek has been pivotal in our creation of a new London landmark in Bankside Yards and in truly outstanding buildings, such as ‘Building 1’. As a business, we thrive on making complex mixed-use buildings work in urban contexts. Our objective remains to continue building partnership relationships that allow us to extend these skills and expertise.”

Native Land has been the leading developer in the Bankside area for more than a decade. It is well advanced in delivering new workspace at Bankside Yards, having invested ahead of other pipeline developments. Arbor, the first office to complete at Bankside Yards, has attracted high-profile tenants, including law firm Lewis Silkin, who will relocate from the City of London, and the recently announced Carbon Trust, who will make Arbor its global HQ.

The 1.4 million sq ft Bankside Yards development will be the UK’s first major mixed-use regeneration scheme with net zero emissions in operation.