The previous building occupying the majority of the site was a modern municipal-style office block owned by the Post Office / British Telecom with some mixed-use street level retail units including banks, a betting shop and a Thai Restaurant. Planning permission was initially granted in 1999. Developers Minerva went on to submit two further plans for the site, including one for what would have been the City's first million+ square foot skyscraper, also designed by Grimshaw Architects. This tower was rejected, and the original permissions revived in 2006, with some revisions.
The St Botolph Building
Designed by Grimshaw Architects and developed by Minerva plc with Skanska as main contractor, the Building is notable for the blue glass spandrels, pre-fabricated escape cores and a central atrium dominated by a steel structure on which a ThyssenKrupp "TWIN" lift system runs 16 lifts on eight tracks, a rare solution in the UK. The building's creative use of structural steel has been awarded by industry bodies. Grimshaw Architects report that the brief was to create "a landmark building of significant architectural merit on a site that forms a key gateway to the City of London". The configuration of the central atrium and lift system affords the freeholder greater flexibility, permitting the later installation of bridges and access ways internally to meet changing tenancy needs. The building's design and management processes include waste management and 'biomatics' to deliver a "zero to landfill" policy. Lighting throughout uses techniques including proximity detection to minimise unnecessary energy use. According to the property's managing agents CBRE, the Building has "achieved a BREEAM Very Good rating through its many sustainable design features". The City of London's Clean City Awards programme granted the building Gold Award status in January 2015.
Tenancy
The developer faced some controversy for its strategy of releasing 100,000+ square foot properties onto a depressed market following the Credit Crunch, but full occupancy was confirmed by 2012. The top four floors are let to law firm Clyde & Co, floors 9-3 let to insurance brokers Jardine Lloyd Thompson and floors 1 & 2 to insurance brokers Lockton. Additionally, the street level houses mixed units including a coffee bar, a gym club and a metro supermarket space, all three let and with tenants trading with both building inhabitants and the general public. Total rental yield is estimated at £30m per annum. The developer sold the leasehold for £460m in 2013
