Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, is a major disrupter for London and is already having a significant, positive impact on the areas surrounding it. One such area is Farringdon, north of the Square Mile, which is emerging as a prominent new hub for business, retail, leisure and culture in Central London.
Farringdon has seen a plethora of new restaurants and bars emerge in recent years while the new Museum of London, a significant tourist draw, will locate in West Smithfield. A new concert hall – a joint project between the Barbican Centre, London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and Guildhall School of Music – is earmarked to replace its current site at London Wall. The City of London’s ‘Culture Hub’ promises to open the area’s collection of arts, cultural and educational organisations further to run from Farringdon to Moorgate and across from the LSO St Luke's music centre to St Paul's Cathedral.
The historic Charterhouse Square in Smithfield, positioned between Charterhouse Street and Clerkenwell Road, boasts a public realm and period architecture more typical of the West End than the City, and Helical’s newly refurbished offices at 25 Charterhouse Square secured the top City rent in the first quarter of 2017 in a deal to Ad Agency, Anomaly.
Other new schemes include Ashby Capital and Helical’s 213,126 sq ft office development at One Bartholomew Close, located between Farringdon and St Paul's stations.
New occupiers in the area include Secret Escapes, the luxury travel club, Trainline, the rail ticket website, and design and development agency Deloitte Digital. Meanwhile, the original start-ups and pioneers of Farringdon’s office market are maturing and looking to expand in the neighbourhood.
All add to the diverse mix of occupiers – a characteristic that arguably ties the fabric of Farringdon’s office market to the West End despite its proximity to the City.
When the Elizabeth Line starts running through Farringdon, EC1 next year the station will become one of the busiest in the UK, connecting with Thameslink and the London Underground to provide links to the City, Canary Wharf, three of London’s five airports, outer London and the home counties. Farringdon will become the ‘cross hairs’ of London and as the renaissance of its architecture, leisure, culture and business mix continues, we expect to see considerable migration into the area from office occupiers in East and West London that could significantly impact Central London’s offices market.
