Planning Permission

Great Portland Estates PLC
23 April 2007



100 Bishopsgate receives committee approval

23 April 2007

Great Portland Estates plc ('GPE') has today received resolution to grant
planning permission from the City of London for its proposed development at 100
Bishopsgate, EC3.


Designed by leading British architects Allies and Morrison, the proposed scheme
is a comprehensive masterplanning of the site to provide three new buildings
totalling 815,000 sq ft net which will include a 40 storey, 165m tall office
tower, a public library, retail and a new Livery Hall for The Leathersellers'
Company who are GPE's development partner for the scheme. The existing buildings
on the site comprise 310,000 sq ft with the majority let until 2011.


Neil Thompson, GPE Development Director, said; 'We are delighted to have
received support from the City Corporation for this scheme. Working closely with
the City Planners has been a rewarding process for GPE and our project team. 100
Bishopsgate is a well designed building in a first class location within the
City cluster.'


To see the accompanying image of the proposed development at 100 Bishopsgate, please
copy and paste the below link into your web browser:



http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3437v_-2007-4-23.pdf



Contacts:

Great Portland Estates plc
Neil Thompson                 Development Director         44 (0) 20 7647 3029
Toby Courtauld                Chief Executive              44 (0) 20 7647 3042

Finsbury
Gordon Simpson                                             44 (0) 20 7251 3801
James Murgatroyd                                           44 (0) 20 7251 3801

Jefferson
Ian Lindsley                                               44 (0) 20 7256 8912


• The majority of leases on the existing building expire in 2011.

• The proposed development will have a total gross external area of 1,285,000 sq
  ft (119,379 sq m), providing 785,000 sq ft (72,928 sq m) net office space and
  15,250 sq ft (1,416 sq m) net retail space creating an active street frontage.

• The proposed scheme comprises three buildings:

  Building 1 is a 40-storey tower building prominently located on the corner of
  Bishopsgate and Camomile Street rising to 165.1m above ground. The building is
  lower than the existing pinnacle at Tower 42 (183m), Swiss Re (179.8m) and other
  consented tall buildings including the Heron Tower (202.5m) which is immediately
  to the north of 100 Bishopsgate. The top of the building ties through with the
  'shoulder' of Heron Tower and the step below the pinnacle of Tower 42. The
  building identity in the skyline is legible in its own right amongst the other
  buildings in the emerging cluster.

  It is a centre core building with large and efficient upper floors, producing
  clear rectilinear office space with spectacular views. The tower form of
  Building 1 was developed by adopting the parallelogram geometry of the site.
  From the base, the floor plate rotates to form a rectangle at the top, so it
  narrows as it gains height to reduce its profile and give a range of large floor
  plate sizes. This creates the impression of a twist in the form, created by a
  series of vertical facades with sloping triangles. Two surfaces are sloped and
  the remainder, are vertical. As the building comes down to meet the ground, the
  glazing falls away with the metalwork continuing through to create a 'skirt'
  detail at first floor level. At the lower ground level there will be a 200 seat
  auditorium for office occupiers.

  The lifting strategy ensures that the floor plates are as efficient in the lower
  floors of Building 1 as they are towards the top. The building will be served by
  double decker lifts which will take people up to a sky lobby on the 15th and
  16th floors offering transfer to mid and high rise groups.

  Building 2 is a 7-storey building at the corner of St Mary Axe and Camomile
  Street. It will contain a new 5,000 sq ft public library and retail units at
  ground floor level. The upper floors provide office accommodation with four
  floors connecting to Building 1 to provide potential trading floors, or large
  space user office floors. The lower floors of Building 2 are accessed separately
  from the entrance at the junction of St Mary Axe and Camomile Street.

  Building 3 is a 7-storey building which is a new rectangular building behind the
  retained facade on St Helen's Place. This building will contain the new Livery
  Hall and principal rooms for the Leatherseller's Company over the ground and 
  first floors. The upper four floors will contain high quality office space with
  a self contained entrance to St Helens Place.

• The position of the three proposed buildings on the site vastly improves the
  public realm, and creates a new link between Bishopsgate and St Mary Axe. The
  new area between the buildings provides a destination in the form of a public
  square lined with shops, cafes and restaurants for visitors away from the noise
  and congestion of the City. A waterfall into a rectangular pool will create a
  focal point within the landscape.

  The site is located partially within the St Helen's Place Conservation Area and
  conservation area consent has also been granted. The site does not include any
  listed buildings but is adjacent to the listed St Ethelburga's Centre for
  Reconciliation and Peace.

• The site is not within any of the strategic viewing corridors, background
  consultation areas or the St Paul's Heights Grid and is outside the proposed
  viewing corridors within the Mayor's draft London View Management Framework SPG.

• The site benefits from excellent public transport links with Liverpool Street,
  Fenchurch Street, Moorgate, Bank and Aldgate stations all within easy walking
  distance and is close to numerous bus routes servicing the City.

• The building is an environmentally progressive scheme which utilises
  photovoltaic technology and solar water heating and addresses the London Plan
  policies on energy. This is supported by provision for bio-fuel heating with
  duel fuel boilers at basement level. It is expected to achieve a 'Very Good'
  BREEAM rating. Natural ventilation is provided both in Building 3 and Building 1
  in mixed mode form to reduce energy usage. The scheme includes a reduction in
  car parking, the provision of 425 spaces for bicycles and 5 disabled car parking
  spaces.

• The planning application was submitted with the full support of The
  Leathersellers' Company.

• The scheme has been the subject of detailed consultation with the City of London
  and the Commission for Architecture and the Build Environment (CABE) and has
  been discussed with English Heritage, the Greater London Authority, St
  Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and St Botolph's Without
  Bishopsgate.

• Great Portland Estates plc (www.gpe.co.uk) is a central London property
  investment and development company with approximately £1.9 billion of properties
  under management which aims to deliver superior returns to shareholders through
  active asset management, the application of development skills to create value
  and the maximising of equity returns through efficient structuring and flexible
  financing.

• BH2 and Knight Frank are development consultants.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange