Bovis begins £220m St Giles Quarter tower beside British Museum

Bovis has started main construction on the £220m St Giles Quarter scheme beside the British Museum in central London, moving the Bloomsbury project into full delivery after more than a year of pre-construction work.

The contractor has built the construction strategy for client Simten under a pre-construction deal running since August 2025. That early engagement now converts into live delivery on one of the most constrained heritage-adjacent sites in the West End.

What does the scheme deliver?

At the heart of the development sits One Museum Street, a 19-storey stepped office tower with landscaped terraces. Designed by DSDHA, the tower will deliver around 170,000 sq ft of offices and is targeting BREEAM Outstanding — the top rating in the certification system, and a threshold few central London office projects reach.

The wider masterplan is mixed-use rather than a pure commercial play. It includes:

• 44 new homes, of which 19 are affordable properties
• 16 shops, restaurants and cafés
• Improved public spaces surrounding the tower
• Residential buildings on High Holborn, Vine Lane and West Central Street

Seven heritage buildings will be retained and restored as part of the plan. For practitioners, that combination — a tall new office element stitched into retained historic fabric — defines the technical character of the job.

What was on the site before?

The scheme replaces the former Selkirk House Travelodge hotel, demolished by John F Hunt. The site's transformation from budget hotel to office-led quarter anchors the wider regeneration of the St Giles area.

Who said what?

David Cadiot, chief executive of Bovis, said: "St Giles Quarter is an outstanding project and we're delighted to have been appointed by Simten to deliver it."

He added: "We have been working closely with Simten and the wider project team through the pre-construction phase, and that early collaboration has given us a strong platform to move into delivery and bring this ambitious scheme to life."

The pre-construction-to-delivery model, in place since August 2025, gave the contractor time to work up its strategy before committing to the build — an approach increasingly common on complex urban schemes of this scale.

Who is on the team?

Simten is bringing forward the development with BC Partners. The consultant line-up is:

• Gardiner & Theobald — project manager and cost consultant
• Heyne Tillett Steel — structural engineer
• Scotch Partners — M&E design

What happens next?

Completion is expected in June 2029. That timeline gives the scheme roughly four years to reach handover, positioning the offices to land in a central London market where BREEAM Outstanding-rated supply remains scarce — and where Simten and BC Partners will be betting that top-tier environmental credentials command the strongest rents.