Final phase of St Paul’s Square approved

Liverpool City Council has approved English Cities Fund's plans for the 109,000 sq ft third and final office building at St Paul's Square.

No 4 St Paul's Square is being billed as a new benchmark in sustainability in the city and will feature environmental innovations such as chilled beam technology, where ground water is circulated throughout the structure of the building to passively heat and cool the office space. ECF claims the system delivers energy costs savings of around £1/sq ft a year compared to traditional air conditioning.

Dan Needham, development director of ECF, said: "We believe the energy savings, location and sheer presence the building delivers will make it an address to envy in Liverpool."

The first two buildings, each around 130,000 sq ft, proved popular with local professional and financial firms. The first, currently being fitted out, was mainly pre-let to law firm Hill Dickinson in 2005 and was subsequently sold to Strategic Investment Management for more than £40m. The second building, under construction and forward funded by Standard Life Investments, attracted another law firm, DWF, for 41,000 sq ft and leading bank HBOS, 12,000 sq ft.

ECF is also the preferred developer for an extension to the commercial district on Pall Mall, where it is currently masterplanning a further 1m sq ft of offices.

Martin Wright, Liverpool Vision development director, said: "The success of St Paul's Square demonstrates the level of confidence in Liverpool's commercial district. The city is delivering a consistent stream of new high quality space, which is vital in sustaining its economic growth, meeting rising local demand, and competing effectively for inward investment."

Work on site for No 4 St Paul's Square will begin in May 2008 and completion is expected in late 2009.

Architects RHWL designed the entire scheme for ECF, which is a joint venture between Muse Developments, English Partnership and Legal & General.