Project: 1-4 Connaught Place
Location: London
Client: Redevco
Value: £12m
Scope: Conversion of 4 Victorian buildings

Located on the junction of Bayswater Road and the Edgware Road at Marble Arch, 1-4 Connaught Place originally consisted of 4 early Victorian 5-storey houses overlooking Bayswater Road and Hyde Park.  The buildings were, until recently, being used as offices.

The project involved converting the 4 individual properties to 2 distinct entities, each with its own entrance.  Numbers 1-3 Connaught Place were converted to commercial office space, while No 4 Connaught Place was converted to 10 luxury residential units.

1-3 is now One Connaught Place, consisting of in excess of 30,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over seven floors.  Its classical stucco façade has been sensitively preserved and conceals an architect-designed contemporary interior.  Throughout the building, the finest materials have been used, including honed marble and limestone floors and oak doors.  Fully air-conditioned, via the latest ground source heating/cooling system, the offices are also equipped with the latest specification voice and IT services, with raised floors allowing for the easy routing of services throughout.  4 Connaught Place has now been transformed into 10 luxury private residences, each with high end finishes. 

Initial works involved internal demolition and soft strip, including removal of the existing lifts. Scaffolding was erected with gantries and a hoist either side of the building. The scaffolding was designed around the drilling of 2 off 130m bore holes situated in the vaults under Connaught Place pavement for the geo thermal pump. A temporary water tight scaffold roof was built to allow the construction of the new roof beneath.   The project brought all the logistical challenges of a central London location

Repeated performance by Woolf for Redevco on similar projects has ensured a thorough understanding of their key drivers.

"This is a very good site with much to commend it.  Extremely clean and tidy and with some very good procedures in place.  A very prominent location in Central London which has become, I feel, a very good advertisement for the industry."
          Malcolm Vicars
                   Considerate Constructors Scheme Auditor