
Set for change: Mott MacDonald House on Sydenham Road
Plans to refurbish and extend Mott MacDonald House, on Sydenham Road in central Croydon, are out for public consultation (not that such exercises ever count for very much if a developer or their client wants to get their way).
The developers have already been through the pre-application process with the council, and are seeking to replace what they call “the dated and tired exterior” of the building and expand the number of workers from one of the world’s largest engineering consultants that can be accommodated in their Croydon offices.
The development plans are probably not unconnected with the purchase of the building, for £21.2million, by asset managers Rockspring in June 2021. Mott MacDonald, one of the biggest commercial concerns still with a base in Croydon, have around five years remaining on their lease of the building.
The existing building consists of 64,000 sqft arranged over seven floors, with 31 on-site car parking spaces.
A planning application is expected to be submitted to Croydon Council in the coming weeks.
According to the developers behind the office extension project, the plans consist of:
- External recladding of the building.
- Creation of a single-storey front extension.
- Erection of a six-storey rear extension.
- Partial widening of the floorplate.
- Creation of a courtyard amenity space to the rear of the building.

New look: how the office block would appear after the redevelopment
The project will also include the associated provision of cycle parking, shower and changing rooms, 16 parking spaces (including just a single blue badge space) and refuse storage areas.
To view the proposals directly and contribute your own comments on the public consultation, or to watch a recording of the somewhat amusingly stage-managed online Q&A session (where the questions had been carefully filtered, there was no sign of the public and certainly not any supplementary questions allowed), click here.
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