European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

The BNP Paribas Real Estate Building Consultancy team, together with our Occupier Strategy, Lease Advisory and Tenant Representation teams helped the EBRD to identify and accurately assess the opportunities and risks that their options presented. We consulted with key stakeholders in the Bank to understand their requirements and the business implications of whether this should be a refurbishment or a completely new building. Reassured with our recommendation that a move was right, we helped our client secure their new home in Canary Wharf on market beating terms.    

Five Bank Street is a 700,000 sq. ft, 26-storey building located in the vibrant Canary Wharf business district. The EBRD occupies 370,000 sq ft across the top 13 floors. The base development is designed to be highly sustainable, achieving BREEAM Outstanding. 

Taking this achievement to the next stage, the Bank’s design brief for the new building set out a challenging vision to deliver a best in class working environment that emphasised wellbeing, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, functionality and flexibility within a space that fostered collaboration and innovation. Our Project Management team was appointed to lead this project to design and construct their fit out and then subsequently to migrate over 2,800 staff into their new office. 

What was our approach?

The project's vision was to co-create with staff and deliver the best possible working environment, emphasising wellbeing, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and a community that fosters a culture of choice, collaboration, and innovation.  

The project aimed to offer a functional, flexible workplace that encourages mobility, whilst considering the Bank's culture and, as far as practicable, staff expectations.  

The fit out was designed to support the new ways of hybrid working that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling staff to easily connect to virtual meeting platforms, collaborate, and work flexibly across the building. 

With sustainability being such a key goal for the client, we worked with the team early in the project to develop an approach that pushed the boundaries beyond the original brief, towards the limits of what could be achieved. This included upgrading the original WELL certification target from Gold to Platinum in addition to the BREEAM Outstanding target, both of which the project is on course to achieve.  

Results achieved & added value

The success of the project from an ESG perspective has been down to the way in which it has been integral to all decision-making and design throughout the project. 

In addition to the sustainability goals, we set 16 Social Value KPIs for the main contractor to achieve, including work experience placements, community engagement, charity work and mental health training.    

This has been recognised by the project being named as the inaugural winners of the BCO Environment, Sustainability and Governance (London) Award in 2023. 

Value for money was a key driver on the project and BNP Paribas Real Estate, along with quantity surveyors, Turner and Townsend, drove this agenda via constant value management throughout the design and construction process.  

We worked with the client to develop a comprehensive change process that was invoked from Stage 3, involving a clear approval process against fully assessed Requests for Change. The Change Control Process was instrumental in helping to manage the project and deliver the works on time and within budget, as well as providing a clear audit trail. 

In 2023, this landmark development at Five Bank Street HQ won the ESG Award at the BCO London Regional Awards.