McGee, which has been appointed by Castleforge for deconstruction works at 1 Golden Lane in the City of London, said its carbon engineering expertise enables the proposed extension of the building to emit less carbon than other structural solutions.

At the Golden Lane site, the work will see half the original building from the 1890s being retained in its current form with the deconstruction works taking place alongside it. The proposed refabrication involves ribbon cutting the existing beams to increase the stiffness of the section, something which has never previously been done on a reused steel section.

McGee worked with the designers, industry bodies and Castleforge to demonstrate the viability of steelwork reuse in this scheme to reduce the carbon emissions and ensure the protection of the original building.

In addition, McGee will undertake structural demolition of some existing RC slabs, the roof and the façade of the building.

Seb Fossey, group managing director, said: “This is the first time that any project in the UK is targeting exact steelwork sections to be deconstructed, de-fabricated, recertified and refabricated for use in the redevelopment of the same site. It is our hope that by successfully delivering this scheme it will demonstrate that technical solutions around steelwork reuse are commercially viable for future schemes in The Capital.

“I’m delighted that Castleforge has put their trust in the experience of our team to deliver this UK first. We are committed to enabling lower carbon solutions through our high value engineering solutions.”

Since its inception in 2010, Castleforge has invested approximately £1 billion, gaining a strong reputation for value-add investment in office, residential and hotel real estate across the UK and Europe. Its portfolio of workspaces spans locations in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

Oliver Vickerage, development manager at Castleforge, said: “1 Golden Lane is set to pioneer innovation in sustainable development of stranded City assets. Ambitious targets for best-in-class accreditations, including BREEAM Outstanding, are being taken a step further through new opportunities for fabric retention, material re-use and the promotion of circular economy principals.

“Our alignment on a RetroFirst approach has enabled the retention of 96% of the existing structure. The innovative ribbon cutting algorithm developed as part of this project, enabling the augmentation of steel sections to the required depths will massively increase the opportunity for steel re-use in a market expectant of symmetry and clean lines.

“We are extremely excited to see this project progress into the construction phase with McGee.”