Bristol’s tallest office building – the iconic Castlemead in Lower Castle Street – has been acquired by London-based Oval Real Estate.
The sale of the office block, standing at a height of 80 m over 18 floors, is another sign of the strength of the city’s commercial property market. 
Rents for its offices have increased faster than most other city centre buildings as Bristol continues to suffer from a lack of premium space. The new owners said they will refurbish the building including putting in a new reception.
James Craig of Oval Real Estate said: “Castlemead holds huge potential with the current high-quality tenant mix and the opportunity to invest in the building to make it an inviting and vibrant place to work; so close to the amenity of Cabot Circus.
“The building was acquired in the knowledge that work was needed to the vacant suites and reception.” The firm has appointed Bristol-based architects Bush Consultancy to remodel the reception and marketing agents Knight Frank, JLL and HTC to let the refurbished offices.
No financial details of the deal have been disclosed.
Ian Wills of JLL’s Bristol office said: “The recently refurbished 16th & 17th floors were in such high demand they were let before completion of the works.
“Oval intends to refurbish the remaining vacant suites on the 12th, 8th and 5th floors to the same high standard, and we expect there to be strong demand for these suites as well.”
Knight Frank’s Andy Smith added: “The most visible changes to the building will be those to the reception and public open space. Bush Consultancy has been instructed to bring the reception from the 70s into the 21st century. Coupled with improvements to the public realm immediately in front of the building this will create a real sense of arrival for occupiers and visitor alike.”
Work on Castlemead, which was designed by A.J. Hines, started in 1973 but was stopped by the property market recession and was not completed until 1981. The building was acquired by property management group F&C Reit in 2011 as part of a £120m, multi-property deal.
Occupiers include IBEX Global UK, Bluefin, Equiniti, Bristol IT Company and MWB Business Exchange.
