IN Brief:
- Seven Capital (Woodrow) Ltd has taken over as main contractor after Ardmore's administration interrupted construction.
- The 1.7ha development provides 462 homes, including the 29-storey Oria tower and 186 affordable homes.
- Oria is scheduled to top out in October, with phased completions from the fourth quarter of 2027.
SevenCapital has restarted work on its £500m 100 Kensington residential development after bringing main contractor duties under direct group control following Ardmore’s administration. Seven Capital (Woodrow) Ltd is now responsible for delivering the 462-home West Cromwell Road scheme.
Construction had been temporarily halted after Ardmore entered administration in June. The project is now more than 30% complete, and SevenCapital said it had prepared a contingency plan after becoming aware of financial difficulties at the contractor before its collapse.
Seven Capital (Woodrow) is an existing group company incorporated in 2016 rather than a newly formed vehicle. A senior construction management team is running the project under SevenCapital chief operating officer James Moody, alongside the group’s construction director and site management operation.
More than 500 workers are expected to return to the project by the autumn as activity rebuilds across the 1.7ha site. The centrepiece is the 29-storey Oria tower, containing 129 private apartments and penthouses, which is scheduled to top out in October.
The wider development provides 276 private and 186 affordable homes across seven buildings, together with leisure, retail, office, and community space. John McAslan & Partners produced the architectural masterplan, with Corstorphine & Wright responsible for detailed design.
Existing development finance remains in place. Maslow Capital originally provided a £258m four-year facility for the 50:50 joint venture between SevenCapital and MARK Capital Management, with Ardmore appointed as main contractor when the financing was agreed.
Taking delivery into a group company avoids the delay of retendering a partly completed £500m scheme, but transfers the main contractor’s responsibilities directly into the developer’s organisation. Those duties include subcontract management, design coordination, temporary works, logistics, health and safety, quality assurance, procurement, and commercial control.
Continuity within the existing supply chain will be central to maintaining programme. Large urban residential developments depend on dozens of specialist packages, and contractors already familiar with the design, sequencing, interfaces, and site constraints can remobilise more quickly than replacement teams starting from first principles.
Ardmore’s administration may nevertheless leave commercial issues to resolve between the old contractual structure and the new one. Subcontractors can carry unpaid valuations, retention, materials commitments, or incomplete packages when a main contractor fails, while warranties, design responsibilities, and procurement records must be transferred into a structure capable of taking the project through completion.
Information continuity is particularly important on a high-rise project already well into construction. Records covering design changes, façade work, building services, quality inspections, fire and life-safety systems, and product information have to remain usable through commissioning and handover, regardless of the change in main contractor.
The programme leaves limited scope for prolonged remobilisation. Phased completions are planned from the fourth quarter of 2027, with the overall development expected to finish around the end of 2027 or beginning of 2028.
The mixed-tenure nature of 100 Kensington adds further interfaces. Private apartments, affordable housing, commercial space, community uses, and shared infrastructure can carry different completion, fit-out, handover, and management requirements, so progress on the tower alone will not determine the wider programme.
SevenCapital now has greater direct control over subcontractor appointments and sequencing, but it also carries more direct exposure to cost movements, procurement gaps, claims, and programme recovery. The October topping-out of Oria will provide the first visible milestone after the restart, followed by the more difficult task of maintaining momentum through envelope, services, fit-out, commissioning, and phased handover.
