UCL, one of the world’s top universities, has strengthened its relationship with investor and developer Lazari by taking a 10-year lease on 40,000 sq ft of office space across three floors of Maple House in Lazari’s Tottenham Court Road estate.
The letting is likely to be one of the largest in Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia in 2025 and reflects the scale of the university’s 6.5 million square foot UK estate, the core of which makes it the largest occupier in Bloomsbury.
The new tenants at Maple House will enjoy the benefits of a £55 million redevelopment by Lazari, following acquisition of Maple House as part of its Tottenham Court Road estate in November 2000. A total of 194,000 sq ft of leisure, office, residential and retail space includes 110,000 sq ft of contemporary workspace across seven floors, centred around a one-acre communal urban forest at 1st floor level with over 90 trees.
On completion, in Q4 2026, Maple House’s amenities will include 8th floor hospitality spaces, a 4,000 sq ft club room and roof terrace, as well as best-in-class end-of-journey amenities in the basement. A further 30,000 sq ft of office space will become available in Q1 2026.
The bespoke turnkey fit out for UCL by Team Projects follows their successful turnkey fit out of 8,500 sq ft at Maple House for Xeinadin and deploys Lazari’s experience of delivering some of the largest turnkey lettings in the London market, including new UK headquarters for Diageo (100,000 sq ft), CBRE (150,000 sq ft) and Forsters (50,000 sq ft).
Lazari’s concept of a high-end turnkey fit out enables new clients to seamlessly transition into a fully furnished office and typically minimises waste. Lazari takes the turnkey concept further by embracing the circular economy and reusing furniture and fittings where appropriate.
A spokesperson for UCL comments, “Well-connected office space on Tottenham Court Road is an important part of the UCL Bloomsbury estate and it’s not the first time we’ve turned to Lazari as a partner to deliver a substantial area of quality space for our colleagues. UCL is a major developer in its own right, constantly reinventing its estate to provide the facilities we need, but sometimes we appreciate having a partner make the investment and do the legwork for us.”
Lazari’s head of leasing Adrian Crooks comments, “UCL’s global recognition and dominance of Bloomsbury makes it crucial to the revitalisation of Tottenham Court Road. It’s one of those London streets where you only have to look above the retail frontages to find a wealth of modern architecture crying out to be brought up to contemporary standards and reoccupied by blue-chip tenants.”
Maple House was a brutalist design by Richard Seifert in the 1970s for Maple & Co, which was then the largest furniture and upholstery store in the world. The granite-clad structure occupies an entire city block close to Warren Street Underground Station.
Lazari’s partners in the redevelopment of Maple House are architects Gibson Thornley, landscape architect Studio ONB and MoreySmith, which designed the hospitality-inspired 1,830 sq ft reception area and 8th floor club lounge.
