Bovis refuses to build Hadid’s Foundation HQ

Zaha Hadid’s headquarters building for the Architecture Foundation
has been plunged into fresh crisis after contractor Bovis Lend Lease
refused to build it.

The long-delayed landmark in Southwark,
which was originally costed at £2.25 million but has since been
redesigned and has doubled in budget, was due to be built by Bovis.

The
contractor, which constructed the surrounding Bankside 123 project, is
understood to have been unwilling to work on the scheme and put a
“ridiculous” £8.4 million price tag on the 900sq m building. It has now
been retendered and is set to be delivered through design-and-build.

Director
at developer Land Securities Mike Hussey condemned Bovis’s high price
and said the contractor “didn’t want to build” Hadid’s design.

Land Securities is now understood to have put a £5 million cap on the project, which was won by Hadid in competition in 2004.

Hussey
claimed that Land Securities still intended to build the headquarters
but was only prepared to make a financial gesture to increase funding
“up to a point”, and not to the level quoted by Bovis.

“Bovis
couldn’t come up with a reasonable figure, and put in a ridiculous
quote. Basically they didn’t want to build it,” he said. “However, we
intend to build it.”

He added that a preferred bidder was
likely to be named within weeks. But a source close to the project
expressed doubt as to whether it could be delivered to budget.

“I
don’t think it can be built for £5 million,” he said. “The architects
just couldn’t help themselves with this project. It’s an artistic
statement that Land Securities is unwilling to fund.”