HOK-designed proposals to refurbish and extend a 1950s office building in the City of London are being recommended for approval, even though the scheme would result in the demolition of a neighbouring building and the loss of the pub it houses.

The practice’s plans for the “deep retrofit” of Fleet House, in New Bridge Street, will see the current eight-storey building stripped back to its basic structure and given two extra floors and new façades. The four-storey building next door that houses St Bride’s Tavern would be demolished to provide a new-build element for the development.

HOK’s proposals, which were lodged over the summer, would deliver 7,212sq m of office space – an increase of more than 2,000sq m on the current building. They would also deliver a ninth-floor roof terrace, and smaller terraces on the fourth-, seventh- and eighth-floors.

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