59 Gresham Street EC2
Integrating shell and core with fit-out produces a trading hub capable of operating through natural and man-made disaster
The development of 59 Gresham Street produced a building capable of housing JP Morgan's operations, including two trading floors with 535 trading positions.
The business required the building to be highly resilient in order to allow trading to continue even in extreme circumstances. We installed large standby generators and a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) system to ensure trading could continue uninterrupted even in the event of mains power failure. An analysis of the building proved that even in the event of a bomb warning there were safe spaces for staff to go that would prevent the need for full evacuation, allowing some activity to continue.
Integrating the delivery of shell and core with the fit-out of the building had significant time-saving and cost-efficiency benefits.
A staff restaurant, client dining, board and conference facilities were incorporated into the design.
During construction the original client, Flemings (one of London's last independent banks at the time), was taken over by Chase Manhattan, who subsequently merged with JP Morgan. Despite these complex changes to the tenancy, the project was completed on time and within budget.
