Plans have gone in to knock down Multiplex’s City of London headquarters and replace it with a 54-storey tower.
Developer Brookfield Properties, Multiplex’s parent company, is proposing to replace the existing 99 Bishopsgate with a new tower that will be more than double its height.
If approved, the new 240 metre building would be the fifth-tallest building in the Square Mile, towering over the Cheesegrater and the Scalpel.
Among the documents submitted was an outline construction plan drawn up by Multiplex, acting as construction adviser.
Alongside the 53-storey building, the developers plan a standalone six-storey public building for cultural use, including gallery space and studios.
The superstructure will take the form of what Multiplex calls an “externally braced tube”, supported by steel diagonal bracing columns instead of the typical reinforced concrete core. Modular components will feature heavily, including steel frames, lift shafts, stairs and facade elements.
Construction is expected to start in spring 2026 and take 57 months to complete, aiming for handover at the end of 2030.
The existing 104-metre tower, which opened in 1976, was designed by prolific office tower architect Richard Seifert. Its structure suffered heavy damage from an IRA bomb in 1993, requiring strengthening and recladding works.
Brookfield aims to retain much of the building’s substructure, including a 2.5 metre-deep piled raft and a piled retaining wall that will be underpinned and extended.
Multiplex was ranked 32nd in the CN100 2023 list of top UK contractors. The firm did not respond when asked whether its construction adviser role constituted a preconstruction services agreement (PCSA).
If Multiplex wins the main contract, the job would add to its solid cluster of major City office projects.
The contractor was recently picked for the 36-storey 50 Fenchurch Street and signed a PCSA for the 35-storey 99 City Road earlier this month.
It completed the City’s tallest building, 22 Bishopsgate, at the end of 2020.
