Liana Hewson
Liana Hewson
Liana Hewson
Biography
Liana's practice focusses on development and regeneration. Liana's experience includes advising on large, complex and high value pre-lets within the London market and project managing and advising on large scale multifaceted development and regeneration projects often with infrastructure interfaces. Liana has worked for a wide range of clients including private companies, Universities and public sector bodies within the real estate sector.
Liana is ranked as a next generation partner in real estate by Legal 500.
Areas of Focus
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Infrastructure
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Public Sector
Admissions
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England and Wales
Related Capabilities
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Energy Transition
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Real Estate
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Infrastructure
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Commercial Real Estate
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Public Sector
Experience
- University College London: Advising on the purchase and development of (i) UCL’s new estate on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and (ii) the Eastman Dental Hospital which UCL will use to relocate the Institute of Neurology and create a new UK Dementia Research Institute.
- University of Cambridge: Advising on the development and sale aspects of its development site in North West Cambridge which is transforming the area into a new part of Cambridge for homes, a school and shops.
- Argent Development Services LLP: Advising on multiple complex pre-lets of office buildings at King’s Cross, (including amongst others pre-lets to Facebook, Google, Universal Music and Waitrose), as well as advising on the general re-development, sale of headleases and implementation of residential structuring at King’s Cross, London.
- Barking Riverside Limited: Advising on the development of the 350 acre brownfield site at Barking which has the potential to deliver 10,800 units. This included negotiating the over ground railway extension documents, developer agreements for lease and lease and overseeing the real estate, finance, planning, procurement and corporate interfaces. Advising on the individual plots sales to the residential house builders within the estate
- Olympic Delivery Authority/Department for Culture Media and Sport: Advising on various elements of the development at Stratford including negotiations with Network Rail and Docklands Light Railway on issues concerning their railway infrastructure and development within the vicinity of the railway.
Related Insights
Insights
Oct 23, 2025
Oct 23, 2025
Structuring shell and core data centre developments: Legal strategies for scalability and flexibility
This is the second in a ten-part article series on the legal strategies shaping the future of data centre development in the UK.
The UK data centre sector’s expansion is increasingly dominated by the shell and core development model. Hyperscale and major colocation tenants are seeking to deploy capital efficiently, accelerate their time-to-market, and retain maximum control over their proprietary technical environments. In response, developers are delivering powered shells – buildings with foundational power and cooling infrastructure but without tenant-specific fit-out – as the market standard.
This approach provides tenants with the freedom to customise their IT architecture. But it also presents developers and investors with complex legal and commercial challenges. The core objective is to create a flexible, scalable asset while ensuring a secure, bankable investment that meets the stringent criteria of institutional finance.
The success in shell and core projects depends on the seamless integration of planning, development, construction, leasing and regulatory strategies. A misstep in one area can cascade through the project, affecting finance, tenant relationships and operational performance.
This second instalment of our Insight Series examines the legal frameworks underpinning these developments, from the structure of development management agreements and lease contracts to the regulatory considerations shaping the market.
Insights
Oct 14, 2025
Oct 14, 2025
Mastering powered land transactions for UK data centres
This is the first in a ten-part article series on the legal strategies shaping the future of data centre development in the UK.
The UK’s data centre market is entering a period of rapid expansion, set to grow from $10.7 billion in 2024 to $22.7 billion by 2030. This is being driven by the computational demands of artificial intelligence, the widespread shift to cloud services and the relentless rise of enterprise-level computing. The result is a highly competitive market for powered land.
For hyperscale operators, institutional investors and specialist developers, the acquisition of these sites is no longer confined to the parameters of conventional real estate. Instead, it’s now a complex, high-stakes convergence of energy regulation, planning law and strategic commercial negotiation. Successfully navigating this landscape to deliver projects on time and on budget requires commercially astute legal advice to mitigate risk, unlock value and achieve market-leading outcomes.
In this article, we explore the legal, regulatory and commercial strategies that underpin successful data centre development, from planning consent and power supply agreements to ESG integration and emerging technological requirements.
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