IN Brief:
- The £200m redevelopment will create approximately 90,000 sq ft of office accommodation.
- Erith is lined up for demolition, with McLaughlin & Harvey as lead contractor.
- The scheme includes terraces, retail space, and a new south-facing public park.
Evans Randall Investors has secured the remaining consents required to proceed with the £200m redevelopment of Thavies Inn House at Holborn Circus in central London.
With the approvals in place, demolition contractor Erith and lead contractor McLaughlin & Harvey are positioned to begin delivery of the WilkinsonEyre-designed scheme. The existing building will be replaced by a ten-storey commercial development providing approximately 90,000 sq ft of offices and around 2,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail accommodation.
Balconies or terraces are planned at every office level, while public-realm works will extend across Thavies Inn Courtyard, St Andrew Street, and Holborn Circus. A new south-facing public park is intended to introduce planting and usable open space to a densely developed part of the City.
Evans Randall acquired the existing 50,000 sq ft office building in 2016, identifying the site’s position between the City, Midtown, and Farringdon as a basis for redevelopment. Elizabeth line services and continuing investment around nearby employment and cultural districts have strengthened the location’s commercial reach.
WilkinsonEyre’s design incorporates whole-life carbon and circular-economy principles, alongside daylight, external space, planting, and occupier wellbeing. The elevations respond to the curved geometry of Holborn Circus, while the retail frontage and public areas are intended to create a more active relationship with the surrounding streets.
Demolition will move the project from an extended planning and consent process into a construction programme shaped by significant urban constraints. Holborn Circus carries heavy vehicle, cycle, and pedestrian movement, while underground services, adjoining buildings, and limited holding space will restrict logistics throughout the works.
Deliveries, waste removal, lifting operations, temporary road occupation, noise, dust, and public protection will need to be coordinated around neighbouring properties and businesses. The interface between demolition and main construction will be particularly important because delays in surveys, temporary works, or substructure decisions could disrupt the planned transition between Erith and McLaughlin & Harvey.
Existing foundations, party walls, utilities, structural remnants, and ground conditions must be understood before the replacement frame progresses. Early coordination between the demolition, structural, and main-contract teams should reduce the risk of discoveries being treated as late changes after the principal programme has been fixed.
Although uncertainty remains across parts of the commercial market, new and comprehensively upgraded London office space continues to attract occupiers seeking better environmental performance, amenities, transport access, and adaptable layouts. Older buildings that cannot meet those requirements are becoming harder to retain without substantial capital investment.
Thavies Inn House is being developed for the upper end of that market, with large floorplates, external space, public transport access, and improved ground-floor uses forming part of the leasing strategy. Its commercial performance will nevertheless remain closely connected to construction cost, finance, programme certainty, and the volume of competing space reaching completion at the same time.
Terraces and balconies on every floor will add value for occupiers, but they also introduce façade, drainage, wind, acoustic, fire, maintenance, and waterproofing requirements. Repetition across the elevations can create opportunities for standardisation, provided the architectural detailing remains buildable and capable of consistent installation.
The proposed park and street improvements will require agreements covering access, ownership, security, planting, drainage, lighting, and long-term maintenance. Public realm attached to commercial developments can become heavily used where it provides a clear route or attractive space, but its success depends on management after completion as much as the quality of the original construction.
A&O Shearman has acted as legal counsel, while CBRE and Knight Frank are handling leasing. Commercial activity is therefore progressing alongside demolition planning and procurement rather than being deferred until the project approaches completion.
Once the enabling works begin, the most immediate challenge will be maintaining programme continuity across demolition, excavation, foundations, structural construction, façade installation, and fit-out on a confined site. The final development is intended to combine prime office accommodation with a more open and landscaped edge to Holborn Circus, replacing a comparatively enclosed building with a larger and more publicly connected scheme.
