Milestone reached on Skanska’s central London scheme

Main contractor Skanska said its steel-framed Earnshaw Building in St Giles, central London, has reached the highest point of construction.

The development will include two separate buildings – an 11-storey, steel-framed mixed-use commercial office block, and a building consisting of 18 residential apartments. Both buildings will have retail and restaurant units located on the ground floor.

John Crawley, Skanska Operations Director said: “From an early stage, reducing carbon emissions on this project has been a top priority for us and our customer, Royal London Asset Management. The aim is to create modern and sustainable buildings that provide places for people to live, work and enjoy.

“To achieve these goals, we are using digital technology so we can find solutions that meet our customer’s bespoke requirements, which means this building will be smart enabled when it’s finished.”

When the building is finished, occupants and tenants will benefit from electric boilers, instead of using gas, to heat the building, supplying greener power, and allowing them to use cheaper tariffs offered by utility companies.

The buildings are targeting environmental accreditations which include BREEAM

‘Outstanding’ for the commercial office space and BREEAM ‘Excellent’ for the rest of the development, as well as WELL Core and Shell Gold certification.

Bourne Steel has fabricated, supplied and erected the steelwork for the project, which is due to complete in the second quarter of 2023.