Ground Broken For New White City Office Block
L'Oreal set to be anchor tenant of Gateway Central
Thierry Cheval, Vismay Sharma and Nathalie Bleach from L’Oreal with Cllr Stephen Cowan
Construction commenced this week on a new eleven storey building called Gateway Central in White City Place.
Six floors of the building are pre-let to L’Oréal UK and Ireland for it to relocate its headquarters from Hammersmith. There is a further 160k square foot of available space in the remaining five floors of the building.
As part of the move, the L’Oréal Academy, which will train more than 10,000 hairdressers a year, will be located in the new building.
Vismay Sharma, Country Managing Director, L’Oréal UK and Ireland said, “We are very excited that building work has begun on our new headquarters at White City Place, a site which is reflective of our position as a leader in sustainable beauty and beauty technology. Relocating our corporate headquarters provides us with a unique opportunity post-COVID to build a workplace for tomorrow, designed around modern working methods that encompass L’Oréal’s ethos of creativity and innovation.”
Construction is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2022 and is being carried out by Stanhope on behalf of investors Mitsui Fudosan and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).
Designed by architecture practice Allies and Morrison, Gateway Central has a total floor space of over 260,000 square feet and includes an outdoor terrace with capacity for up to 250 people. Other occupiers in the vicinity include online luxury fashion retailer YOOX-NET-A-PORTER, Swiss multinational pharmaceutical Novartis, the BBC and ITV Studios.
The developers say that with White City Place at almost 100% capacity, the delivery of Gateway Central will provide new office space to meet the continued demand from companies looking to relocate to the area.
David Camp, Chief Executive, Stanhope said, “Gateway Central is the next step in helping us complete our vision of transforming White City Place into a global business district for world class companies.”
Cllr Stephen Cowan, Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, said, “Our first-of-its-kind Industrial Strategy is building Hammersmith & Fulham into a global hotspot for businesses in STEM industries, media, the arts, and fashion. I’m therefore delighted that L’Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics company, has commissioned its new UK and Ireland headquarters at the epicentre of all that exciting economic activity.
“L’Oréal are a wonderful corporate citizen who already work closely with us giving young people with special educational needs and disabilities opportunities in work. I look forward to deepening that relationship and watching L’Oréal thrive”.
The building which will be located on land directly adjacent to MediaWorks is part of the wider redevelopment of White City.
White City Place includes a group of six buildings set around a central avenue with retail spaces, restaurants and gardens. 3 buildings – WestWorks, MediaWorks and the Garden House - total 566,290 square feet of office space, the buildings have been designed for modern life sciences, creative and technology businesses, including ITV Studios. Three other buildings at White City Place - the Broadcast Centre, Energy Centre and Lighthouse building - totalling around 400,000 square feet, are occupied by the BBC with 3,000 BBC staff.
October 26, 2020