Second phase of works to add new library in the vaults of Somerset House
Bovis has won the construction management job for work to redevelop part of the Courtauld art gallery in the middle of London.
Last autumn, the Courtauld unveiled plans for an £82m transformation of its Somerset House campus designed by 2025 Stirling Prize winner Witherford Watson Mann.
The art institute is embarking on the second phase of an upgrade programme at the grade I-listed building on the Strand which is set to add new teaching spaces, a new lecture theatre and a library within its subterranean vaults.
Purcell and Lawson Ward Studio are also working on the project, which comes three years after Witherford Watson Mann’s first phase of works in the building’s north wing.
Bovis’s initial award is worth £5.3m with, according to a contract notice, the value of the work carried out by CM expected to be £42m. Packages being managed by Bovis will include demolition and facade retention, steel frame and M&E.
Others to bid the job were Mace, Sir Robert McAlpine and Hertfordshire contractor BSB.
The scheme is due to be signed next week and has been pencilled in to finish in August 2028.
Others working on the deal include project manager Gardiner & Theobald and cost consultant Aecom.
The second phase of works will focus on the Courtauld’s remaining space at Somerset House, which will be newly connected to a row of neighbouring townhouses on 152-158 Strand.
The project is aiming to bring the institute’s students, staff, art historians, conservators, curators, visitors and art collection together under one roof.
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