Scots legal heavyweight Burness Paull to move into heart of Glasgow’s financial district

Scottish legal heavyweight Burness Paull has agreed a deal to take office space in the heart of Glasgow’s business district.

The firm has completed a letting at BAM TCP Atlantic Square’s 2 Atlantic Square, which is located in the city’s International Financial Services District. It follows engineering and project management consultancy Atkins, which last year became the building’s first occupier.

Burness Paull will take a ten-year lease on the 14,814-square-foot fourth floor of the 96,650 sq ft building, which spans six floors with 7,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space on the ground level.

Tamar Tammes, managing partner at Burness Paull, said: “After a two-year search across the city we believe we have found the ideal home at 2 Atlantic Square.

Burness Paull will take a ten-year lease on the 14,814-square-foot fourth floor of the 96,650 sq ft 2 Atlantic Square building in Glasgow. The £150 million Atlantic Square development totals 300,000 sq ft across three separate buildings.

“Our goal was to find a new base for our colleagues in Glasgow that was not only tailored to our new hybrid working principles, but also met the highest standard of environmental credentials.

“It is an impressive building in an area undergoing rapid transformation into the heart of Glasgow’s business district.

“Moving there sets us up perfectly for modern flexible working and ensures that clients and colleagues have easy access to a full range of transport connections.”

The £150 million Atlantic Square development totals 300,000 sq ft across three separate buildings. Ten-storey 1 Atlantic Square covers 187,000 sq ft and was pre-let to the UK government as part of the HMRC Hubs programme, forward funded by Legal & General Investment Management. It will house more than 2,000 government employees.

Dougie Peters, BAM Properties’ managing director, said: “This letting to one of Scotland’s most prestigious legal firms is a reflection of the stature of the accommodation, for which there is continuing market interest.

“It shows that there remains a strong future for commercial office space in Glasgow and the quality of the accommodation forms part of occupiers’ approach to attracting and retaining talent.”

Atlantic Square was designed by BAM Design and Cooper Cromer Architects, constructed by BAM Construction Scotland and developed by BAM Properties in joint venture with Taylor Clark.

BAM Properties’ track record in Glasgow includes 110 Queen Street and Clarion, while it is behind the recent Capital Square development in Edinburgh.

Property firm Galbraith represented Burness Paull while BAM TCP was represented by CBRE, JLL and Ryden.

Burness Paull is one of Scotland’s largest legal practices with some 80 partners and more than 300 lawyers.

In August, the firm reported sharply higher fee income after a “rapid response” during the pandemic and advising on a string of high-profile transactions.

Meanwhile, international law firm Pinsent Masons has completed a move into new offices in the centre of Edinburgh’s financial district.

More than 200 lawyers and business operations colleagues will have access to the 25,000 sq ft premises in Capital Square on Morrison Street where the firm continues to adopt an “agile” approach to promote hybrid working.

Ewan Alexander, partner and head of office Edinburgh at Pinsent Masons, said: “We have long-established agile working practices across the firm’s international locations.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription: www.scotsman.com/subscriptions