Kier is set to deliver a major £60 million office retrofit in London’s Holborn district after being selected as preferred contractor for Railpen’s transformation of 26 Red Lion Square.
The contractor is entering into a pre-construction services agreement for the 100,000 sq ft development, known as The Fenner, ahead of a planned start on site later this year.
Designed by Stiff + Trevillion, the extensive refurbishment will transform the existing building into eight floors of Grade A workspace, with construction expected to take around two years.
Rather than pursuing wholesale redevelopment, the project will retain and reuse significant elements of the existing structure, combining this approach with substantial architectural and environmental upgrades.
Plans include new façades addressing both Theobalds Road and Red Lion Square, alongside enhanced ground-floor amenities intended to improve the arrival experience and provide modern facilities for occupiers.
More than 9,000 sq ft of roof terraces will also be introduced, adding external amenity space to the building and helping reposition the property for the next generation of central London office occupiers.
Sustainability and operational performance are central to the redevelopment. Railpen is targeting BREEAM Outstanding, EPC A and a NABERS 5-star rating for The Fenner, placing ambitious environmental objectives at the heart of the refurbishment programme.
Five contractors competed for the project, with Kier ultimately selected on the strength of its proposed team and experience delivering complex office schemes within central London.
Graham Potts, regional director at Kier Construction London & Thames Valley, said: “Railpen is a new and significant client for Kier, one whose ambitious pipeline and progressive agenda aligns perfectly with our own values and approach.”
The appointment further strengthens Kier’s growing workload in London’s commercial refurbishment and retrofit market.
It follows the contractor securing Derwent London’s £99 million redevelopment of Holden House on Oxford Street, as well as The Crown Estate’s transformation of the Grade II-listed 10 Piccadilly, comprising approximately 90,800 sq ft.
Together, the projects underline the increasing importance of retrofit within the capital’s office construction market as property owners look to modernise existing assets while retaining valuable structures and improving energy performance.
The Fenner is also part of a much larger investment programme being undertaken by Railpen, encompassing around 600,000 sq ft of commercial refurbishment and development across London and Birmingham.
With new façades, upgraded amenities, substantial roof terraces and ambitious environmental targets, the £60 million Holborn project will see an existing central London office asset comprehensively repositioned without sacrificing the embodied value of its underlying structure.
For Kier, the scheme represents another significant addition to a growing portfolio of high-value retrofit projects as the transformation of existing buildings continues to become an increasingly important part of the UK commercial construction market.
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