British Land has appointed McLaren Construction to construct a pioneering four-storey last-mile logistics hub in Southwark, serving central London.

This project marks the first of a new generation of multi-storey logistics facilities envisioned by British Land.

Situated on a 0.78-hectare site along Mandela Way, the 140,000-square-foot building is designed to accommodate a unique blend of industrial and logistics operations.

Lewis Huntington, development manager at British Land, said: “This multi-storey urban logistics scheme is the first of its kind in central London and has market leading sustainability credentials.”

By stacking logistics space across multiple floors, the building can be subdivided and multi-tenanted, offering adaptability to future trends and climates.

The ground floor will provide access for various distribution vehicles, including heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and cargo bikes. The building will be equipped with five goods lifts, three additional lifts for cycles and cargo bikes, and six passenger lifts.

McLaren Construction's contract encompasses the installation of plant equipment, landscaping, access points, vehicle parking, and cycle parking facilities.

Building services works will be minimal, ensuring maximum flexibility for future tenants, with approximately 90% of the build focusing on shell and core construction and the remaining 10% dedicated to a Category A office fit-out.

Designed to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating, the building incorporates low-carbon materials and features 1,470 square metres of rooftop photovoltaic panels installed above a combination of green and blue roofs. The latter will collect water for a greywater system.

The project aims to achieve a 167% biodiversity net gain for the former car pound site, including the creation of an ecological corridor along a residential boundary.

David Gavin, managing director for industrial and logistics at McLaren, said: “We are seeing a new generation of clever industrial buildings that stack light industrial, warehouse and distribution space to keep a broader range of jobs in urban areas and serve demand for last-mile distribution space.

“If there’s one thing they have in common, it’s that they maximise their use of tight urban sites, requiring ingenuity and careful planning for the plant and materials we need for construction.”