St Andrews Court

Project

St Andrews Court

Location

Plymouth

Client

St Andrew’s Court Plymouth Ltd

Contract

£2.2m

Duration

29 weeks

Project Description

The St Andrew’s Court project – now known as ‘The Merchant’ –  involved complex refurbishment works and the addition of a vertical, fully-glazed extension to a commercial office building, in the heart of Plymouth city centre. As the property remained live and multi-tenanted throughout construction, the core challenge was carrying out the works without disrupting the daily business operations of the existing occupants.

The main feature of the project was the construction of a sixth-floor penthouse vertical extension with panoramic views of Plymouth’s waterfront, resulting in eight storeys overall. The space was kept open and contemporary. It was specifically designed to serve as a premium corporate environment, functioning primarily as a high-end boardroom, meeting space, and client hub.

Externally, our team replaced the original materials and installed new exterior cladding made of concave polygon concrete panels set with marble stone, improving thermal efficiency and the building’s aesthetics. Internally, we stripped away dated cellular office layouts to introduce flexible, open-plan workspaces. The interior fit-out was completed with structural drylining partitions, premium commercial floor finishes, and high-performance acoustic suspended ceilings.

The building’s underlying infrastructure and safety systems were fully modernised. A highly complex mechanical and electrical network was integrated across all floors, as well as the installation of a new passenger lift system and air-conditioning. To ensure full compliance with strict building regulations, the team also implemented comprehensive fire protection upgrades, and include DDA compliant access and facilities.

The completed development successfully transitioned a dated post-war concrete block into a Grade-A commercial building.