McLaren Construction is set to move on a nine-storey Clerkenwell office development billed as the UK’s largest all-timber frame building, after developer Global Holdings Management Group secured £105 million in green loan financing from ING. That is according to McLaren, which has already signed a construction contract — understood to be worth approximately £80 million — to deliver Xylo, a 9,290-square-metre timber office at the junction of Grey’s Inn Road and Clerkenwell Road in central London.
The green light comes after architects Piercy & Co secured planning permission for the scheme in June 2023 for the 13,900-square-metre development on the former site of Holborn Town Hall. Wood Central understands that demolition and groundworks have since been delivered by Erith, with the existing basement car park and slab substructure preserved — a decision informed by whole-life carbon studies that revealed that replacement was the most environmentally responsible path.
ING confirmed the new facility has been structured as a green loan, with proceeds earmarked specifically for the project’s environmental objectives. Samuel Ellis, ING’s head of UK Real Estate, said the project was exactly the kind of development where sustainable finance could play a genuine role.
The building’s glulam beam and cross-laminated timber structure — to be supplied by Hybrid Structures, a William Hare Group subsidiary — will lock away more than 2,400 tonnes of CO₂. Embodied carbon is projected to be 50 per cent below that of a comparable London office building; operational carbon is expected to fall by up to 82 per cent. The building will run entirely on renewable grid electricity, with rooftop photovoltaic panels, all-electric heating and cooling, and demand-driven displacement ventilation across the office floors.
Designed to achieve LETI Pioneer, NABERS UK 5.5-star, and BREEAM ‘Excellent’ certifications, Xylo will be anchored by a 6.5-metre vaulted lobby and deliver 9 floors of workspace, along with a rooftop garden, landscaped terraces, a restaurant, and a yoga deck. A mid-20th-century building tucked behind the street frontage is also being refurbished as part of the wider scheme.
According to Darren Gill, McLaren’s managing director for London and South, the structure demonstrated what off-site manufacturing and structural timber could achieve on a constrained footprint. “Rigorous digital information management systems enable us to monitor carbon emissions as the project progresses and ensure that it comfortably meets its ambitious targets,” he said.
Meanwhile, Josh Lawrence, CEO of Global Holdings Management Group UK, said the build was being marketed to tenants who want to lead on sustainability. “Xylo is going to be the perfect building for companies that are leaders in their fields, showcasing the most environmentally friendly technologies in a truly beautiful building,” he said.
McLaren will deliver the project with architects Piercy & Co, project manager Avison Young, services and sustainability engineers Max Fordham, and structural and civil engineers Heyne Tillett Steel. The building is due for completion in the second quarter of 2028 — by which point its timber superstructure will have sequestered more than 2,400 tonnes of CO₂.
