A national fit-out specialist has started work on a huge project at one of the poshest addresses in Britain.
EE Smith Contracts won the multi-million pound contract to provide a full interior fit out – including mechanical, electrical and audio-visual services – at a development of 15 apartments, offices and shops at 55-91 Knightsbridge.
Built in 1905, the 120 yard long, Grade II listed block is in the heart of Knightsbridge, close to Hyde Park and Knightsbridge underground station, and a stone’s throw from Harvey Nicholls and the Lanesborough Hotel.
It is undergoing a huge restoration which is taking it back to its former glory, along with the modern touches expected of such a high-spec development.
The contract is being managed in association with Sir Robert McAlpine, Dixon Jones, MSMR and APML Estates, and will see EE Smith, which is based in Leicester, working on-site until its completion towards the end of 2020.
In recent months Leicester’s , mainly in the capital, including celebrity chef Tom Kerridge’s new restaurant at the Corinthia Hotel in Westminster.
The contractor, founded in 1897, is working on numerous other large-scale projects in the capital, including the The Londoner – a 350 guest room hotel with 15 suites, 5-star flagship hotel five restaurants and lounges, a rooftop bar, a subterranean spa as well as a 1,000-capacity ballroom – Battersea Power Station and 1 Grosvenor Square among others.
Past projects include work on the UK Supreme Court, the Francis Crick Auditorium on the Wellcome Genome Campus, near Cambridge, The Savoy Hotel, and the United Airlines Heathrow T2B departure lounge.
The 112-year-old business underwent a management buy-out in 2016 and earlier this year announced that it hoped to grow its 300-strong staff by 100 by the end of 2019.
Neil Bottrill, managing director of the company, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the 55-91 Knightsbridge project which is our first for this client and are certainly excited at the detail and scope of the scheme which will be an fine addition to the super prime market which is continuing to boom.
“We are also very pleased to be awarded the full fit out order as Mechanical, electrical and audio-visual work is a growing specialism of ours so we are delighted to be commissioned to undertake that aspect of the project in addition to the interior and joinery work that we are mainly known for.”
Occupying a whole block length, the façade to the building, called Knightsbridge Gate, has been refurbished, and the roof reinstated.
A new structure has gone in at the back to house new high quality accommodation.
