Architecture firm BDP moves to 3 St Paul’s Place in Sheffield city centre

BDP, the architecture and design practice, has taken 8,178 sq ft of office space at 3 St Paul’s Place in Sheffield city centre.

3 St Paul’s Place, developed by CTP and U+I and built by Bowmer & Kirkland, is the final part of the £130m Heart of the City project.

BDP is taking the whole of the sixth floor at 3 St Paul’s Place on a 10-year-lease. The rent is £23.50 per sq ft.

The firm has relocated its 70-strong team from 1 North Bank in the city, where it has been based for the past 10 years.

David Topham, director of Manchester-based developers CTP, said: “BDP’s decision to relocate to 3 St Paul’s Place is a pleasing endorsement of our development. It is also extremely encouraging that a company with BDP’s reputation for quality, innovation and excellence has chosen our building as their base in Sheffield.

“They join global civil engineers Arup and leading Swedish bank Handelsbanken at 3 St Paul’s Place, two other companies with superb reputations. We are very proud of our occupiers.

“Our decision to develop a speculative Grade A office building in Sheffield in the midst of the recession has been vindicated and we are very proud of the quality of the office space we have created. There is now strong interest in the remainder of the building and we look forward to announcing new tenants shortly.

“These are exciting times for St Paul’s Place, which is now an established high-quality, low-occupation cost office location in the heart of Sheffield. It is the greenest, most energy-efficient and most modern office building in the city, with a BREEAM excellent rating, and it marks the revival of confidence in Sheffield city centre.”

Andrew Smith, head of BDP’s Sheffield studio, commented: “It was an easy decision for us to make the move to 3 St Paul’s Place as it’s a great space with well proportioned, column-free floor plates providing very good daylight and views.

“It’s also in a brilliant location in the very heart of the city, benefitting from the full range of Sheffield’s amenities and the city council’s investment in high quality public realm, particularly the area around the Peace Gardens, as well as the important route from the train station via Howard Street.”

“The new studio will incorporate onsite cycle storage and shower facilities to accommodate the high percentage of staff who cycle to work and exemplifying the practice’s commitment to sustainability.”

Simon Hesketh of co-developers U+I added: “We are delighted to have been involved in delivering 3 St. Paul’s Place, a first class office development for Sheffield. The letting to BDP underlines the quality of the building and will help to further establish it as a significant new commercial centre for the city.”

The 10-storey 3 St Paul’s Place comprises 76,000 sq ft of Grade A office space with each 8,000 sq ft floor offering offices suites from 2,000 sq ft. It is rated BREAM Excellent. .

St Paul’s Place is a mixed-use scheme which features the 161-bed St Paul’s Mercure 4* hotel; No1 and No 2 office developments occupied by lawyers DLA Piper, RBS, Barclays, accountants PwC, Coutts and the Department of Children, Schools and Families; a 330-apartment residential tower block; the famous “Cheesegrater” car park, operated by Q-Park; a casino; and restaurants and cafes including Pizza Express, Piccolinos, Café Nero, Bill’s Restaurant and Café Rouge.

The marketing agents for 3 St Paul’s Place are the Sheffield office of Knight Frank, together with the Leeds offices of BNP Paribas and DTZ.

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