The Lewis Building on Bull Street in Birmingham, owned by Legal & General Property (LGP), is to be speculatively renovated to provide 10,600 m2 (114,000 sq ft) of new office space.
Formerly known as Temple Court, the Lewis Building was originally built as a department store in the 1920s by 19th century philanthropist David Lewis.
Willmott Dixon will strip back the interior of the building to shell and core, and remodel the building to provide floorplates of 1600 m2 (17,000 sq ft), along with a new 1100 m2 (12,000 sq ft), glazed seventh storey with roof terraces. 聽EPR is the architects for the project.
For Willmott Dixon, the Lewis Building project follows on from its recent fit-out of the new HS2 headquarters in Snowhill. Elsewhere in the city, the company is also building the National College for High Speed Rail in Duddeston to train HS2 engineers and working in the Millennium Quarter with a project for Birmingham City University, expanding the Curzon building.
Peter Owen, Willmott Dixon鈥檚 managing director in the Midlands, said: "We are hugely proud of our role in creating Birmingham鈥檚 exciting new future with these projects, and are excited to be creating superb Grade A offices in the heart of the city鈥檚 business district.
鈥淟GP is taking an innovative approach to the Lewis Building, offering a product that is providing space that responds to the needs of modern occupiers while respecting and enhancing the historic aspects of the building鈥檚 exterior. This is an ambitious project but will create a significant addition to Birmingham鈥檚 office market and will represent a fitting legacy to this historically important building.鈥�
LGP senior asset manager Tom Williams said: 鈥淲ith an outstanding track record of renovating historic and listed buildings such as Alexandra Palace, we are exceedingly confident that Willmott Dixon will deliver our vision for a 21st Century workplace in the heart of Birmingham. We are taking an underinvested asset and creating a truly landmark location that seamlessly blends a contemporary workplace with the building鈥檚 historic legacy.鈥�
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