At Stonecutter, tp bennett designs a next-generation office that unites flexible, wellness-focused design with groundbreaking sustainability in one of London’s most historic districts.
Project Snapshot:
- Design Firm: tp bennett
- Client: La Caisse and PIMCO
- Completion Date: June 2025
- Location: Stonecutter, London
- Size: 250,000 sq ft office space
- Certifications: BREEAM Excellent, City of London’s ‘Aspirational’ embodied carbon target, WELL Core and Shell Gold
Overview
Stonecutter is a transformative redevelopment of an entire urban block in the City of London, reimagining a complex corner site at 1 Stonecutter Court and 81 Farringdon Street within the evolving Fleet Street Quarter. Commissioned by La Caisse and PIMCO Prime Real Estate and developed by CO—RE, tp bennett was appointed as lead architect to create a next-generation office building that would respond directly to contemporary workplace needs and post-pandemic office design requirements.
The project’s primary goal was to deliver an exemplary 240,000 sq ft, 13-story office building that would attract business occupiers seeking high-quality, experiential and flexible workspace while setting new standards for sustainable development. The design needed to address the complex challenges of an island site situated in close proximity to the Grade II listed 18th century Hoop & Grapes public house, the Fleet Street conservation area, and strategic viewing restrictions to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Creating a cohesive architectural response to these diverse streetscapes while ensuring the building appealed to a broad range of occupiers was fundamental to the project.
Central to Stonecutter’s ambition was the restoration and enhancement of the surrounding urban realm, contributing positively to the public realm through the creation of a new pocket park with glazed pavilion, relocated courtyard space, and improved accessibility to historic Harp Alley.
The building was designed to support hybrid working patterns with efficient, virtually column-free floor plates, floor-to-ceiling windows maximizing natural light, and multiple roof terraces offering exceptional city views.
Advanced sustainability measures, including the reuse of existing foundations and a fully electric-powered system, were integrated from the outset to achieve the City of London’s ‘Aspirational’ embodied carbon target. The project successfully secured leading international law firm Travers Smith as anchor tenant, with Trainline subsequently taking additional floors, resulting in full occupancy prior to completion in June 2025.
Project Details & Challenges
Stonecutter presented a complex array of design challenges that required innovative solutions across heritage, architectural, and workplace requirements. Most significantly, as one of the first new build office buildings to complete in the City of London designed in direct response to post-pandemic workplace concerns, the project needed to reimagine how office spaces could support hybrid working patterns and employee wellbeing. The interior design strategy focused on creating flexible environments that would address the evolved understanding of workplace needs revealed during COVID-19.
The ground floor was conceived as a dynamic, welcoming environment featuring dual reception areas, coffee bar, townhall space, and art gallery showcasing local emerging artistic talent. The double-height foyer, flooded with daylight and featuring interior planting that blends with exterior greenery, creates long vistas connecting occupiers with the urban landscape, responding directly to increased pandemic awareness of the critical importance of access to nature and natural light for tenant wellbeing. Six roof terraces provide exceptional city views and crucial outdoor amenity space, further prioritising occupier wellness and connection to the external environment.
The design team’s solution drew inspiration from the diamond cutting heritage of adjacent Hatton Garden, incorporating materials and geometries that reflect local character while creating a building that enhances rather than detracts from its historic context. Careful massing studies balanced heritage requirements with commercial needs, maximising lettable floor area while respecting viewing corridors and neighbouring listed buildings. The lightweight structural system with 13.5m x 9m grids enabled virtually column-free floor plates, providing unprecedented flexibility for occupiers while maximizing natural light penetration through floor-to-ceiling windows across all facades.
Beyond addressing heritage constraints, tp bennett leveraged the project to improve the public realm, relocating and enhancing the courtyard space to create better accessibility while adding a pocket park with glazed pavilion. The result is architecture that serves both commercial tenants and the broader neighborhood while celebrating the unique character of this historic quarter.
Key Products
Overall Project Results
Stonecutter is an exemplar of post-pandemic office design and sustainable development. This is evidenced by the fact that the building achieved full occupancy prior to completion, with leading international law firm Travers Smith signing a 158,000 sq ft pre-let for its new London headquarters, followed by Trainline taking floors two through four totalling 61,500 sq ft in March 2025. This rapid commercial success demonstrates market confidence in tp bennett’s design strategy and approach to post-covid working environments.
One of the project’s most significant outcomes is its sustainability achievements. Stonecutter is the first office building in the City of London to deliver the ‘Aspirational’ target for as-built embodied carbon, achieving 538kgCO2e/m2 compared to the London Plan benchmark of 950kgCO2e/m2. This represents lower upfront emissions than any other major new build in the City since Life Cycle Carbon Assessments came into force in March 2022. The innovative material specifications, including 40-60% cement replacement in concrete throughout the building and reusing existing foundations to save an estimated 2,600 tonnes of CO2, have created a replicable blueprint for future sustainable construction.
The building also prioritises operational sustainability performance, with a fully electric-powered system, 2,700 square feet of solar panels, and advanced energy conservation methods ensuring Net Zero Carbon operation in alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement. The smart building technology collates data around energy usage, allowing occupiers to monitor and react to their own emissions, supporting tenant sustainability goals.
In terms of design, the building’s standout features extend beyond the office spaces to create a genuine contribution to the local area. The pocket park with glazed pavilion provides much-needed publicly accessible green space along the Farringdon corridor, featuring a coffee shop and restaurant that add vibrancy to the streetscape. The pavilion itself showcases architectural innovation with its diagrid façade and inverted roofscape containing diverse flora, creating an activated garden space that draws visitors into the courtyard.
The interior spaces have been carefully crafted to support the evolving needs of modern workplaces. The elegant timber lattice ceiling in the reception echoes the exterior façade’s geometry, creating design coherence that references the cut stones and gems of nearby Hatton Garden. The super-flexible podium level can transform to support different tenant needs, while the six roof terraces provide exceptional city views and outdoor amenity space that has become increasingly valued in post-pandemic workplace design.
Stonecutter demonstrates that ambitious environmental targets can be achieved while creating commercially successful, architecturally distinctive buildings, evidenced by achieving full occupancy prior to completion. The building’s smart capabilities and dynamic welcome experience create an innovative post-pandemic office environment that supports the evolving needs of modern businesses in a vital part of the city.
Main Contributors:
Client: La Caisse and PIMCO Prime Real Estate
Developer: CO—RE
Architect: tp bennett
Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti
Main Contractor: Mace
LCA Assessor: Thornton Tomasetti
Meet the Design Team
Julian Sharpe – Principal Director
James Elliott – Director
Simon King – Project Director
John Pritchard – Project Director
Teresa Rodriguez – Associate Director
Thomas Cheek – Senior Architect
Erin Copland – Senior Technologist
Danny Leung – Senior Interior Designer
Photography
Hufton+Crow
