Three picked for London student accommodation work

The £37m Pure Hammersmith development, designed by Make Architects, will be built by Morgan Sindall on the site of the former Hammersmith Palais concert venue. The value of Morgan Sindall’s contract is £26m.

The Palais has already been demolished and will be replaced by three blocks of between four and nine storeys on the site. These will provide accommodation for 418 students, while the ground floor and basement levels of the building will create 23,000 sq ft of leisure space, to be used by the local community.

Peter Jacobs, managing director of Morgan Sindall’s London office, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the project team giving this key site in London a new lease of life in a contemporary, sustainable development.

“The historic wall which runs the length of the site and contains the building’s iconic artwork is part of the city’s heritage and will remain in place to commemorate the cultural significance of the Palais. This will also provide a great reminder of the exciting events that have taken place at this site over the years.”

Mace has already begun work on the Pure City development in Goswell Road, Islington. Once complete in September 2014, this will consist of three new buildings, providing 805 rooms of student accommodation, together with a new 30,000 sq ft sports hall and gym as well as 23,000 sq ft of space for academic use, which are pre-let to City University.

Elliott Thomas has been contracted to deliver Pure Bankside, a £15m project on Ewer Street in Southwark.

Pure Student Living is a joint venture fund manager Carlyle Group and Generation Estates.

Carlyle Group managing director Mark Harris said: “Having recently secured £125m of development finance, we have made these appointments in order to get construction of our three new projects underway. Over the next two years we will bring online three state of the art and well located student accommodation facilities which will deliver over 1,400 much needed new beds into the London market. Mace, Elliott Thomas and Morgan Sindall are all expert contractors and we are confident that they will deliver first rate projects on time and on budget.”

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