Dechert Moves London Headquarters

• State-of-the-art office refurbishment minimizes environmental impact and maximizes employee wellbeing, including extensive outside space
• Intelligent use of space combined with a reduction in unnecessary paper storage space allows for a much more efficient footprint
• Space to grow headcount to meet increasing demand for the firm’s services

Global law firm Dechert LLP has today moved its 300+ London-based people into its new London headquarters, a high-specification refurbished office space at 25 Cannon Street in the heart of the City overlooking St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

Careful consideration has been given to the building’s environmental credentials, with the firm opting for refurbished premises – rather than demolishing an existing space or building a new one – to reduce its whole-life environmental impact. 25 Cannon Street has been extensively remodelled and future-proofed. The development has a very low embodied carbon and material use impact and meets the 2030 LETI targets for commercial offices._¹

By achieving a BREEAM “Excellent” rating, zero carbon and  WELL Health-Safety certification, Dechert is taking a holistic approach to sustainable and healthy design. The new space will address the wellbeing of our people through design aspects including high-specification air-filtration and indoor air quality protection, access to seven outdoor spaces including a full-length cafe terrace, a large roof garden with unique city views, as well as an additional garden at street level. BREEAM, the UK’s leading sustainability certification programme for design, will also help with the firm’s ultimate aim for net-zero carbon emissions, while the WELL Health-Safety certification for facilities and operation management affirms that evidence-based measures and best practices for safety have been adopted and third-party verified, supporting the health, safety and well-being of people.

Dechert will lease approximately 60,000 square feet located over the top three floors of the building. The premises offer the opportunity for further expansion driven by a continued rise in client demand for the firm’s legal services. Over the last few years, the firm has added a number of top-flight lateral partners in the City including private equity funds partner Sam Kay; antitrust partners Douglas Lahnborg and Saira Henry; structured finance and securitization partner Aaron Scott; white collar partner Judith Seddon; corporate partner Sam Whittaker; and restructuring partners Adam Plainer and Kay Morley. Dechert’s London office also welcomed back Richard Pugh as a commercial real estate finance and securitization partner in Dechert’s global finance practice and financial services regulation partner Colin Sharpsmith to the firm’s global financial services and investment management practice. 

In its new premises, Dechert is the largest occupier and will have exclusive use of an outdoor terrace that extends almost the entire length of the Cannon Street facade and will be part of the firm’s café and conference space. In addition, Dechert personnel will have access to other smaller terraces and the roof garden with unrivalled views of St. Paul’s Cathedral, along with dedicated cycle access, changing and shower facilities and storage which can accommodate up to 240 bicycles.

Through intelligent design and eliminating unnecessary paper storage, Dechert has been able to reduce its overall London premises’ square footage whilst increasing floorspace dedicated to its clients and collaborative working. As part of its London office move Dechert has dispensed with superfluous document storage equivalent to the length of more than 46 red London buses. Every individual will continue to have their own workspace, with offices for all lawyers.

“This is a stunning building with excellent environmental credentials, state of the art technology and outside space that is rare in the City” said Gus Black, London Managing Partner.

Mr. Black continued: “We have maintained the square footage of our lawyer offices and increased and enhanced collaboration and client space. Through smart design and by eliminating literally truckloads of obsolete on-site paper storage, we have been able to reduce our overall footprint. The quality of the working environment for everyone is improved, with close attention to matters such as air quality, lighting, and noise pollution.”

Dechert’s London office opened in 1972 and the firm has been located at its current location, 160 Queen Victoria Street, since 2005. As part of the office move, Dechert donated furniture from its 160 Queen Victoria office space to a number of charities and social enterprise organizations with whom the firm regularly works as part of its extensive pro bono efforts.

_{¹ LETI targets are industry-wide embodied carbon targets identified by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI). The industry bodies have set out a series of embodied carbon reduction targets towards whole life zero net carbon. 25 Cannon Street has a very low embodied carbon and material use impact and meets the 2030 target (286 kgCO2e/m2) https://www.leti.uk/cedg}

About Dechert

Dechert is a global law firm that advises asset managers, financial institutions and corporations on issues critical to managing their business and their capital – from high-stakes litigation to complex transactions and regulatory matters. We answer questions that seem unsolvable, develop deal structures that are new to the market and protect clients’ rights in extreme situations. Our 1,000+ lawyers across 21 offices globally focus on the financial services, private equity, private credit, real estate, life sciences and technology sectors.