Three in race for GPE’s £150m London Bridge office approved this month after years-long planning battle

Three firms are in the chase for Great Portland Estates’ revised plans for an office scheme next to the Shard which finally got the green light earlier this month after a seven-year planning battle.

The 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 last week with construction expected to start next summer and complete in late 2028.

Now called St Thomas Yard – it was previously known as New City Court – Mace, Bovis and Sir Robert McAlpine all returned bids for the deal earlier this month, with the job valued at around £150m. A winner is due by the start of next year.

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 appointing Orms to redraw the scheme the following year.

Mace had been working on the original towers plan, which was understood to be worth around £200m.

Firms that have been retained for the 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.