16 St Martins Le Grand is a landmark Grade II listed headquarters building in the heart of the City of London. Being repositioned for the prime office market through a comprehensive internal refurbishment, the project protects its historic fabric and whilst meeting performance‑led sustainability targets. Gleeds provided full cost management services from early feasibility through delivery, supporting the successful transformation of the 90,000sq ft listed refurbishment into a modern, market‑ready workplace.
Located within a sensitive heritage setting, 16 St Martins Le Grand required a careful balance between conservation compliance, commercial performance and occupier expectations. The ambition was to modernise the internal environment to appeal to today’s occupiers, without compromising the requirements of a protected structure. The refurbishment strategy combined a high‑quality Cat A base build throughout the building with two premium Cat A+ floors delivered to Cat B standard. This approach supported early letting and reduced void risk, while enabling upgrades to the core, lifts and building services. New amenity offers including a roof terrace and end‑of‑trip facilities, further strengthened the building’s appeal in a competitive City office market.
Gleeds was appointed to provide full cost management services from early feasibility through delivery. We developed a clear and robust cost strategy at the outset, supported by detailed elemental cost plans that reflected the specific risks associated with listed refurbishment. Benchmarking against comparable City projects helped to ensure the specification and investment strategy aligned with market expectations. Alongside this, we worked closely with the wider project team to address the technical challenges of full building services replacement and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) uplift within constrained floorplates. Early workshops brought together design intent, plant strategy and riser coordination, reducing the risk of late‑stage redesign and supporting efficient decision‑making.
As the project progressed, Gleeds maintained cost certainty through structured risk management, active value engineering and disciplined change control. Transparent reporting and early engagement with the market and supply chain helped to test appetite, manage inflationary pressure and protect commercial objectives. Through this approach, we helped balance heritage compliance with strong commercial outcomes. Targeted investment in services and fabric performance supported the delivery of EPC B within listed building constraints, while the Cat A and Cat A+ strategy increased flexibility, improved letting appeal and strengthened the asset’s marketability.
