Landsec said the decision to advance to main construction of the 380,000 sq ft project on Lavington Street in Southwark signaled its confidence in the London office market.

Laing O’Rourke was previously in line for the job but dropped out when the scheme was put on hold.

Mace has been formally signed as construction manager for the £230m project which will progress Landsec’s ambition to deliver a one million sq ft green office cluster in Southwark.

The redevelopment of the former printworks will be the latest large-scale project Landsec is carrying out in Southwark.

The two Bennetts Associates designed buildings will rise to 10 and 15 storeys respectively

It follows the recent delivery of The Forge, which became the UK’s first net-zero commercial building designed in line with the UKGBC’s framework, and was completed by Mace and its joint venture partner, Sir Robert McAlpine.

Pat Fitzgerald, commercial director for Major Projects at Mace, said that building on the lessons learnt from The Forge, the project will further pioneer new approaches to designing and building net zero spaces.

The design expands the use of low-carbon materials to achieve a 50% reduction in Co2 during construction compared to a typical office build.

Timber Square will retain 85% of the existing steel structure, while also using new cross-laminated timber floor slabs to deliver a highly sustainable, energy-efficient space.

Air Source Heat Pumps will be the primary heat source for Timber Square which is targeting a BREAAM ‘Excellent’ and Well Core Platinum, as well as £205m social and local economic value generated during the project life cycle.

James Rowbotham, Head of Workplace Development at Landsec, said: “Combining CLT, retention and recycled materials with modern off-site manufacturing techniques honed through the development of The Forge, Timber Square is the next generation in low carbon construction.

“Timber Square, along with our wider Southwark pipeline will deliver much-needed capacity to a supply-constrained market and allow us to respond to the growing demand for space in the borough.”