‘Flatpack City’ – Ikea Create Canalside East London Office Space Complex
Ikea East London office space will cost £25 million and planning permission will be placed at the start of 2012.
Scandinavian Company Ikea have announced plans to build a 26 acre plot in London that will see new offices constructed in the south east of the country.
Flatpack furniture giants Ikea have spent £25 million on a 26 acre plot of Land in East London as they plan to construct 480,000 square foot of prime East London office space.
The Scandinavian company has revealed that it plans to build what has been dubbed ‘flat pack city ‘, as part of its first British commercial property development. The new suburb is called the ‘Strand East’ project in Stratford and will include a 250 bedroom hotel, 1,200 homes and a range of retail and East London office space.
The whole site is expected to be environmentally friendly and will be connected via pedestrianised walkways, with boats being used for transport and taxi services. It’s thought cars will be parked underground and that a water power plant will provide energy and remove rubbish.
The development will be located alongside a canal, the Olympic Park and will also include a floating cocktail bar, leading the designers to name it ‘mini-Venice.’
Harald Muller, Managing Director, described the site as: “The newest and most interesting development in the whole area.”
A planning application to begin building on the site for new East London office space is due to be submitted in early 2012 and Ikea’s development arm, LandProp, is responsible for the new scheme that moves them into the property market.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “This is yet another great example of the 2012 legacy rippling out of the Olympic Park and across east London.”
The building report comes after news that City office space demand is static and that the total office pace leased in the capital’s financial hub has slowed.