Property

PETALING JAYA: The latest project at 75 London Wall, previously known as Winchester House and formerly the UK headquarters of Deutsche Bank, represents Gamuda and Castleforge’s commitment to creating sustainable, state-of-the-art office spaces. This redevelopment, designed by London-based architects Orms, aims to expand the building’s capacity by 40% to 688,000 square feet. Completion is expected by Q3 2027 as part of a joint venture with Castleforge. A recent survey commissioned by Castleforge, involving over 1,800 UK office workers, revealed a significant readiness to return to the office, with over a third reporting feelings of social isolation at home. This sentiment is particularly strong among 18–24-year-olds, with 43% feeling socially isolated and 59% less productive when working from home. 75 London Wall is poised to be a future-proof, sustainable office space designed to attract and retain top talent. The redevelopment will preserve 89% of the existing structure, including the lower-level facades, to minimize whole-life carbon emissions while enhancing flexibility, amenities, and daylight for occupants. This project sets a new benchmark for office building utilization in the City of London, targeting BREEAM ‘Outstanding’, WELL Core ‘Platinum’, and NABERS UK 5 Star Design for Performance. The office spaces will be fully refurbished to provide energy-efficient, grade A+ accommodation, and high-quality end-of-journey facilities to promote active travel. New commercial units on the ground floor and a cultural forum space will further enhance the building’s appeal, offering venues for events, performances, and public speaking. A new public space, ‘Priors Garden’, designed by the award-winning Andy Sturgeon Design, will provide a green retreat along an enhanced pedestrian route linking to Austin Friars via a historic city passageway. Multiplex has been selected as the preferred main contractor, appointed under a Pre-Construction Services Agreement. They will begin consultation on the project, offering buildability advice during the remaining design stages before entering the main construction contract in Q3 2025. With full planning consent granted, construction can now commence, marking the start of the transformation envisioned by Gamuda and Castleforge. Chu Wai Lune, CEO of Gamuda Land, remarked, “The granting of full planning consent marks a significant step forward for 75 London Wall. Construction can now begin, allowing us to realize our vision of transforming it into a premium, sustainable office space. This approval is a key milestone in the project’s development and further solidifies Gamuda’s presence in the UK property market.” Michael Kovacs, Founding Partner of Castleforge, added, “To attract workers back to the office, companies will need distinctive, high-quality spaces. We never believed office working was ‘dead’, and the demand for premium office space in Central London proves us right. The refurbishment of 75 London Wall will provide top-tier office spaces with significant amenities and set a new sustainability standard, making it a win for both the environment and tenants’ ESG strategies.” Orms’ design extensively reuses the existing structure, adding new storeys in a stacked series of layers that subtly change in material and detailing to introduce lightness to the top. This approach ensures the development appears as one cohesive building, complementing local conservation areas. Colin McColl, Director at Orms, stated, “75 London Wall sets a new benchmark for upgrading and extending headquarters office buildings. This project is sensitive to its context, respects the existing urban grain, and seizes opportunities to improve the building’s offerings inside and out. Our vision is about setting a new standard for sustainability, adaptability, and community enhancement in the heart of London.” Informed by internal research, Gamuda and Castleforge’s vision for the site aligns with the growing demand for top-tier office spaces with luxury amenities and prime locations, as well as flexible office spaces that offer shorter leases and hospitality for small- and medium-sized companies. Since its inception in 2010, Castleforge has invested approximately £1 billion, building a strong reputation for value-add investments in office and residential real estate across the UK and Europe. Their portfolio includes Clockwise workspaces in the UK, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

KUALA LUMPUR: Asia’s global real estate agent network IQI, which is a member of Juwai IQI, announced today a new partnership with PropMall intended to give its agents new tools to make it easier and faster for them to close more transactions. PropMall is Malaysia’s number-one Multiple Listing Service (MLS) platform with more than 13,500 listings. IQI Co-Founder and Group CEO Kashif Ansari was enthusiastic. “We are partnering with PropMall because we want our agents to be able to close more deals, more easily. This agreement creates a partnership between IQI and PropMall in Malaysia, and we look forward to the possibility of partnering in other countries as well. “For listing agents, PropMall is a tool to engage other agents in marketing your properties. For sales agents, PropMall helps you discover the listings that are most relevant to your buyers. For all of our agents, PropMall will help you complete more transactions and increase your commission earnings.” IQI Co-Founder and Group Managing Director Daniel Ho said the PropMall agreement is part of IQI’s long-term technology strategy. “We work hard to give our agents the industry’s most advanced and powerful technology,” he said, “whether that’s an in-house tool like our super-app Atlas or it comes from leading partners like PropMall. “PropMall is the number-one multiple listing service in Malaysia, and it can help agents boost sales by 300%, according to the data that I have seen. PropMall gives our agents the ability to be systematic, organized, and strategic in their marketing campaigns.” IQI Co-founder, Group COO & CIO Nabeel Mungaye said: “PropMall enables agents to curate real estate listings and create their own listings websites. PropMall’s slogan, ‘By agents, for agents,’ resonates with me. The idea behind our partnership with PropMall is that agents can help each other, and everyone benefits. “PropMall gives IQI agents new tools for listing and Marketing property and will be a valuable addition to their marketing portfolio.” PropMall’s CEO, Azlan Nizam Bin Abd Rashid, said his team looked forward to empowering IQI’s agents. “We are excited about this collaboration with IQI. Our two organizations have a shared culture of innovation, service, and effectiveness. Together, we aim to provide agents with the best possible tools to achieve their goals. “PropMall will help IQI agents make the most of their co-broke marketing efforts by making it easy to connect with partners and manage joint marketing campaigns. We expect IQI’s agents to see a noticeable increase in lead generation and conversions. “IQI’s agents will also find it easy to identify properties that are suitable for their buyers. The high-quality images and comprehensive property information on PropMall will save them time and fast-track their transactions.”