The City of London Corporation has approved the plans for a new 21-storey office-led development at 120 Fleet Street.

Development Manager CO-RE's plans include detaching the Grade II* listed Daily Express building from River Court, which will be replaced with a new 61,000m2 office tower designed by Bjarke Ingels Group.

The art deco Daily Express building will be transformed into a publicly accessible cultural destination. It will feature a free publicly accessible landscaped public roof garden.

Chair of the City of London Corporation’s Planning and Transportation Committee, Alastair Moss, commented: “This development is yet another example of how the City can balance the constant demand for new office space, whilst maintaining due respect to the Square Mile’s unique history.

“Fleet Street is renowned as the former home of London’s newspaper industry and this development takes care to rejuvenate the old Daily Express building to the next chapter of its rich history. Importantly, it will also allow for a new, high-quality office to be constructed in this key strategic part of the City.

“Developments like this, coupled with the undeniable return of the buzz of City workers, continue to give us unwavering confidence that the Square Mile’s recovery will go from strength-to-strength, as Fleet Street re-invents itself as a key part of the City.”

Director at CO-RE, David Hutton, added: “We are obviously delighted to receive planning permission from the City of London Corporation for 120 Fleet Street. This is great news for central London’s office market generally and more specifically for occupiers looking for the best space for their employees in terms of sustainability, active travel and health and wellbeing. 120 Fleet Street has a flexible design that allows for various uses by a diverse mix of potential tenants. Terraces are a signature of CO-RE developments and 120 Fleet Street’s outside space will have unrivalled views across central London.

“After spending many years behind closed curtains, we are excited to be able to return the Daily Express Building to its former glory and open up its stunning art deco foyer to the general public. The Daily Express Building will be a truly public space through a number of potential cultural opportunities and its new roof garden will provide breath-taking views of St Paul’s, St Brides and beyond.”

City of London's committee meeting took place on Tuesday 26th October 2021. Planning ref. no. 21/00538/FULEIA. The Planning Consultant was DP9.