McLaren Construction has been appointed by O&H Properties to deliver the first phase of a £60 million Foster & Partners-designed development at the corner of New Bond Street and Grafton Street in London’s West End.

The seven-storey, 5,400 square metre prime retail and office scheme will feature retail space across the lower ground, ground, and first floors, with five storeys of office and event space above. Designed for the Mayfair Conservation Area, the building will boast a distinctive precast concrete and brick façade, curved triple-glazed bay windows, and a zinc shingle roof.

A three-storey basement will provide additional retail space, with a top-down construction approach ensuring efficiency in terms of time, cost, and safety. The construction team will simultaneously build the central section of the ground floor slab and the core structures while excavating the basement levels. Key structural elements include 33-metre-deep, 1.2-metre-diameter piles and 15-metre steel plunge columns, supporting the cores and ground floor slab.


Given the site's tight location, McLaren has collaborated closely with the City of Westminster to develop a comprehensive logistics and traffic management plan. A large temporary ramp will allow deliveries from Grafton Street and provide access for piling rigs and cranes, ensuring minimal disruption to the surrounding area.

As part of the redevelopment, the Grade II-listed shopfront of Wartski jewellers at 14 Grafton Street has been carefully dismantled and will be reassembled at Barlow Place in a later phase. The final redevelopment will introduce new homes, a hotel, office and retail spaces, as well as bars and restaurants, further enhancing this prime area of London's West End.

Managing Director for London & South, Darren Gill, commented: "There is a deep and complex basement to be constructed before this beautiful new building rises above Grafton Street. We know from considerable experience of working in the Oxford Street area that this technical feat will be pulled off in a tight site surrounded by a lot of activity. Occupiers and passers by will see a smart new addition to the West End without ever realising how precisely planned and engineered it needs to be."