Sir Alan's all go for Bishopsgate

With the new series of the Apprentice having just climaxed on the BBC and attempts by Gordon Brown to get him to join the government it seems there's no keeping Alan Sugar back, something proven once more by this latest proposal to stand on Bishopsgate by his property company, Amsprop.

The scheme has been designed by Blair Associates and is located on 119 - 121 Bishopsgate and will be approximately 40 m tall. Consisting of a ground floor plus 10 floors above, the scheme will offer 9,930 sq m (106,886 sq ft) of space.

The architecture is roughly cylindrical in shape and steps back on the upper levels reducing the overall bulk of the building. Cladding comes in the form of horizontal bands of red limestone with narrow lines of crystalline stone running through it adding a spot of contrast. Set in between the stone cladding will be horizontal ribbons of floor to ceiling glazing that wrap around much of the building. Topping it will be green roofs.

It's an important development for Amsprop which has done little by the way of new build schemes preferring to concentrate on buying prime space in and around London's central core and doing it up. It should be interesting to see if this marks a change in strategy as Amsprop move towards dreaming up new schemes as the property market recovers.