In mediaeval London, Old Jewry was a ghetto area surrounding a synagogue. As time progressed the area benefited from merchants trading at the nearby Grocer’s Hall and the later completion of the Bank of England, just down the road.

Fast forward 300+ years and trading, albeit of a different commodity, continues apace in the nearby banks and insurance companies in this sought–after area of the Square Mile.

Client Standard Life must have seen they were on a sure-fire winner when they invested £20m+ in the construction of a new 9 storey, mixed-use development comprising 1,000m² of retail space at ground floor level with 8 floors (9,000m²) of sought-after office space above. In fact, at the time of writing the whole office space has been let to Indian finance house Fidessa Group plc.

Mike Hannigan, investment director at Standard Life said ‘this is testament to the quality of the building and our confidence in the city market’.

The inner structure comprises a steel frame with lightweight concrete floors. Three elevations, Poultry, Grocers Hall and Old Jewry are clad in either Portland or Anstrude limestone.

Stone clad precast columns fixed back to the frame at the various floor levels dominate each elevation above first floor level, whilst the ground floor area features stone sarcophagi. Load-bearing shear walls in hand-set masonry fixed back to concrete backing panels appear at each corner of the main (Poultry) elevation.

Restricted site access proved problematical to the construction staff headed up by Nick Adkins. However, this was overcome by strictly supervised and strategically timed traffic management for vehicles and pedestrians alike.

The project was delivered on time and to budget.

For further information regarding the construction phase of this project please refer to the Summer 2007 edition of Finesse.