Firm set to revamp former Lewis’s building is named
THE construction group behind the expansion of Birmingham City University’s Eastside campus will carry out the £18 million revamp of Birmingham’s former Lewis’s department store.
Willmott Dixon will lead the project to renovate the building and create 114,000 sq ft of office space.
Owner Legal & General Property announced earlier this year it planned to bring back the historic Bull Street department store name by rebranding Temple Court as the Lewis Building after David Lewis, the philanthropist who founded the eponymous department store chain in Liverpool in the 1850s.
The group’s Birmingham branch moved to Bull Street in the 1920s but closed in 1991 when the company went into administration.
The renovation is due for completion in summer 2017.
Legal & General Property acquired both the building and its neighbour Priory Court for £87.5 million in 2014.
Senior asset manager Tom Williams said: “With an outstanding track record of renovating historic buildings such as Alexandra Palace, we are confident Wilmott Dixon will deliver our vision for a 21st century workplace. We are taking an under-invested asset and creating a landmark location that blends a contemporary workplace with the building’s historic legacy.
“We have already seen considerable interest from some of the larger requirements currently looking to identify space.”