Work starts on Europa House transformation
Developer Allenby Commercial has rebranded the 60,000 sq ft 1970s Hull office building as Monocle, with the overhaul’s completion expected in late 2025.
A coffee shop and business lounge will be introduced at ground floor level, with managed workspace and studios on the first floor, and space targeted at larger occupiers on the upper levels.
Allenby, which bought the building in 2018, has engaged PPH Commercial and CBRE as joint agents for the reinvented 50-year-old property.
The £6.5m project secured a combined £1.5m backing from Hull’s Levelling Up Fund and the Hull & East Yorkshire LEP’s Growing Places fund in October last year.
Georgia Allenby, design and marketing director at Allenby Commercial, said: “Monocle is all about creating a workplace that is more than just your workspace. The building is being redeveloped to bring a new experience and environment to Hull.
“The ground floor will be transformed into a high-end coffeehouse that will also be open to the public, alongside a welcoming business lounge with co-working spaces, break-out areas, a gym, meeting rooms and city garden.”
Allenby’s portfolio includes historic riverside studios at Danish Buildings and Bayles House, a former military transport depot now renovated as a modern business park at Base, Victorian-style retail units at Paragon Arcade and period properties in Hull’s Old Town converted into the Hideout Hotel.
In terms of nuts and bolts redevelopment, incoming at Monocle will be two new lifts and a central staircase.
Europa House has long been a landmark in the city, a distinctive, gold-mirrored office block that has stood next to Hull Paragon Station at the corner of Anlaby Road and Ferensway since 1975. Glazing will be replaced in the redevelopment.
Allenby continued: “There will be business events, workshops, demonstrations and launches of products and services offered by the businesses within Monocle. People working elsewhere will be welcome to have their corporate events here – we have already had conversations with organisers of business events in the area who are looking for new ideas.
“It will bring together different aspects of what we do on a smaller scale in our other locations. Whether it’s retail at Paragon Arcade, creative small space at Paragon Studios and Danish Buildings, the mix of offices, suites and light industrial at Base, they all foster a strong sense of community. Monocle will do that across 60,000 sq ft under one roof.”
Allenby said the firm has researched space in Leeds, Manchester, London and overseas on visits to Barcelona and Stockholm as the business seeks to introduce new ideas to the local market, with emphasis on access to exercise and wellbeing.
