Work on St Thomas Yard scheme due to start next summer

Bovis has capped off a transformative year with a £150m deal to build an office scheme in the shadow of the Shard for Great Portland Estates.

Building understands the firm was told earlier this week it had won the St Thomas Yard scheme, pipping Mace to the job. A pitch from Sir Robert McAlpine is thought to have been tailed off earlier in the race.

Bovis, which is wrapping up work for GPE on its 2 Aldermanbury Square scheme, reverted back to its historic marque, ditching the Lendlease name after its Australian parent sold the business to US private equity firm Atlas Holdings in January.

New City Court Oct 6

The revised scheme has been designed by Orms

Since then, it has won a number of high-profile jobs including 60 Gracechurch Street and a scheme in the West End at Museum Street.

The St Thomas Yard scheme, which will replace a 1980s office building with an 11-storey office block and refurbish a row of grade II-listed Georgian houses, has provoked controversy due to its proximity to a number of heritage assets including the grade II*-listed Guy’s Hospital. Among those objecting to the plans was Historic England.

But Southwark councillors gave it the green light in the autumn with construction expected to start next summer and complete in late 2028.

Mace had been working on the original towers plan, which was understood to be worth around £200m, and was known as New City Court .

The scheme was approved after two redesigns of the project, which was originally envisaged as a 37-storey office tower under plans designed by AHMM and submitted in 2018 before it was cut down to 26 storeys.

These plans were thrown out by former communities secretary Michael Gove in 2023 after GPE brought the application to appeal, with the developer then appointing Orms to redraw the scheme the following year.

New City Court Oct 5

The job provoked controversy with some because of its proximity to several heritage assets

Firms that have been retained for the revised scheme include project manager Gardiner & Theobald, structural engineer AKT II and QS T&T Alinea.

The deal will retain and re-use the structural core of the 1980s office building on the site and add five storeys with balconies and landscaped roof terraces, almost doubling the existing floorspace on the site to 190,000sq ft.

The team also includes MRG Studio as landscape architect, DP9 on planning, The Townscape Consultancy on heritage, Velocity on transport, GIA on daylight, Ashton Fire as fire engineer and Chapman BDSP as services engineer.

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