A 920m² Cat-B professional services fit-out within a Grade II listed shell on Colmore Row, Birmingham — 8 partner offices with traditional joinery and panelling, two boardrooms with full Crestron-controlled AV, secure file room with BS EN 1300 vault door, library and research space with bespoke American walnut shelving and sliding ladder, and a contemporary breakout area with full bar service. Eight-week programme delivered against fixed price under Listed Building Consent, signed off by the Birmingham City Council conservation officer with no remedial actions logged.
An established Midlands law firm with eight equity partners and around fifty staff, relocating from a tired suite in another part of the city centre into 920m² on a single upper floor of a Grade II listed Victorian commercial building on Colmore Row — the most prestigious business address in Birmingham. The building shell is Grade II listed for its decorative plaster cornices, panelled doors, original sash windows and the principal staircase. The landlord handed over the floor in Cat-A condition: stripped to the original fabric, raised access flooring laid, perimeter trunking in place, base building M&E to floor, suspended ceiling grid where the original ceilings had been previously lost. We had eight weeks to turn it into a working law firm headquarters that would satisfy both the senior partner and the conservation officer.
We were one of three contractors invited to tender. Our bid came in second on price by approximately £14,000 against the leading offer. We won the work because our methodology document was the only one to (a) include the Listed Building Consent application drawings, conservation officer engagement schedule and reversibility statement inside the contract sum rather than as a "client to obtain" line, (b) cost the bespoke American walnut joinery package as a fixed sub-contract with a named heritage joiner rather than a notional allowance, and (c) detail the secure file room construction to BS EN 1300 standard with a Grade-1 vault door, four-factor access and 60-minute fire-rated walls and ceiling, again inside the contract sum rather than flagged as a likely variation.
The firm took occupancy at 8.00am on the Monday of week nine. Their partner offices were panelled and ready, the library shelves were loaded, the secure file room was commissioned and the boardrooms were AV-tested. The senior partner held the first board meeting in the main boardroom that Tuesday afternoon. The Birmingham City Council conservation officer attended the final walkthrough on the Thursday of week eight and signed off with no remedial actions logged on the LBC compliance file.
The brief came from the firm's Senior Partner, the Practice Manager and the firm's IT consultant jointly. Priorities, in their stated order:
An 8-week Cat-B fit-out at 920m² inside a Grade II listed shell on Colmore Row is achievable but unforgiving. Heritage constraints sit alongside professional-services security and AV requirements, and the joinery package alone is a four-week fabrication lead time. Every constraint had a workaround that had to be planned before the keys were handed over.
The building is Grade II listed for its decorative plaster cornices, panelled doors, original sash windows and principal staircase. Listed Building Consent application was drawn, submitted and granted before our bid was accepted, with a binding schedule of conservation officer site visits at weeks 1, 4 and 8. Every fixing into the original fabric was forbidden; every new partition stood free on the raised access floor and was brought up to but not into the original walls; every new service penetration was reviewed and signed off in writing in advance. Zero LBC issues logged across the full programme.
The joinery package was the spine of the programme: 8 panelled partner-office doors with traditional 6-panel layout, replicated cornice for partner offices and the main boardroom, deep architraves and skirtings, picture rails, library shelving with sliding ladder, reception desk, breakout cabinetry. All in American walnut, stained to a heritage match. Order placed week 1 against survey-and-template drawings. Off-site fabrication weeks 2-4. On-site install weeks 5-6 with overlapping electrical second-fix. Specialist heritage joiner sub-contracted on a fixed price within our contract sum.
Both boardrooms specified to a Crestron-controlled standard with single-touch source switching, ceiling microphone arrays, ceiling speakers, room-booking integration and full video conferencing. The main boardroom carried dual 85-inch displays plus a wireless presentation receiver; the secondary boardroom a single 75-inch with the same control logic. AV pre-install ran as a parallel workstream with first-fix cabling at week 3, second-fix at week 6, full commissioning and source-switching test at week 7 with the firm's IT consultant on site. Both boardrooms passed first-time commissioning.
The secure file room is built to enhanced standards: 60-minute fire-rated walls and ceiling with two layers of 15mm fireline plasterboard each side of a metal stud frame, no external windows, no service penetrations other than the controlled door, smoke detection cross-zoned with the building system. The door is a Grade-1 vault door to BS EN 1300 with four-factor access (keypad PIN, electronic token, biometric fingerprint, full audit log). Mobile racking system specified to provide three times the capacity of standard fixed shelving in the same footprint. Commissioned at week 7 with the firm's IT consultant signing off the access audit.
The library is the partner-facing centrepiece of the floor: bespoke American walnut shelving running floor-to-ceiling on two adjacent walls, a sliding library ladder on a brass rail, two solo research desks with under-desk power, a partner reference position with a small table, an articulated reading lamp at each desk. All shelving is fixed back to the new partition behind, never into original fabric. Drawings issued to the heritage joiner at week 1, off-site fabrication weeks 2-4, on-site install week 5 over two days, ladder rail commissioned and ladder demonstrated to the senior partner at week 7.
The breakout sits in deliberate counterpoint to the panelled partner offices and library: 4m run of contemporary cabinetry with an integrated wine fridge, glasswasher, undercounter ice maker, twin-bowl undermount sink and a quartz worktop. The mains plumbing run had to pass through the original floor void to reach the existing service riser; the conservation officer reviewed and approved a fully reversible method using surface-mounted clip-on traybacks within the void rather than fixing into the original joists. Bar service installed in week 6, plumbed and tested in week 7, decoration completed in week 8.
Cat-B fit-outs inside Grade II listed shells succeed or fail on the relationship with the conservation officer and on the discipline of the joinery package. Our entire approach was built around four governance disciplines and one craft discipline.
Listed Building Consent owned end-to-end. The two competing tenders treated LBC as a client-side responsibility to be administered alongside the build. We treated it as a parallel workstream with a named heritage liaison from our team owning the conservation officer relationship: pre-bid drawing submission, three scheduled site visits at weeks 1, 4 and 8, written sign-off on every reversibility decision, a single binder containing every LBC document delivered at handover. Three site visits, zero remedial actions logged, full LBC compliance file delivered with the keys.
Joinery as the spine of the programme. A heritage joinery package on an 8-week programme cannot be ordered late. We placed the joinery sub-contract in week 1 against survey-and-template drawings rather than waiting for the partitions to be built. Off-site fabrication ran weeks 2-4 in parallel with our partition and first-fix workstreams. Install landed weeks 5-6, sequenced against electrical second-fix so that wall sockets were live before panelling went on. The senior partner's office carried the most decorative cornice and architrave detail; we built that office first and used it as the visual reference for the conservation officer at the week-4 visit.
AV as a parallel workstream, dovetailed with the firm's IT consultant. The two boardrooms ran as a parallel AV workstream with their own foreman, their own first-fix and second-fix dates, and a commissioning date set for week 7 with the firm's IT consultant on site. Cable routes were agreed against the heritage-fixed corridor positions before any cable was pulled. By week 7 both boardrooms switched, presented, conferenced and ceiling-mic-tested at first commissioning. The firm's IT consultant signed the AV acceptance certificate on the Friday of week 7.
Reversibility documented at every interface with the original fabric. Every interface between new work and the listed shell — new partition heads against the original ceiling, library shelving fixings, breakout plumbing routes through the floor void, the reception desk against the original staircase newel post — was specified as reversible, photographed before and after, and entered onto the LBC compliance file. The conservation officer's week-8 sign-off referenced our compliance file specifically. Reversibility wasn't an afterthought; it was the construction methodology.
Forty working days from key handover to occupancy. A heritage joinery package, a parallel AV workstream and three scheduled conservation officer site visits sequenced against an 8am Monday occupancy on day 41.
Site mobilisation, welfare and storage set up in the rear yard with building manager approval. First conservation officer walkthrough on the Tuesday: full photographic record of original cornices, panelled doors, picture rails, sash windows and principal staircase newel post, signed off as the heritage baseline. Detailed Cat-A survey of the floor: floor box positions, ceiling void depth, fire alarm and sprinkler grid coverage, structural reference for partition heads. Partition layout marked out on raised access flooring. Joinery survey and template drawings issued to the heritage joiner; full sub-contract order placed with a 4-week off-site fabrication lead time.
Metal stud framing for all new partitions, two layers of 12.5mm acoustic plasterboard each side. All partition heads brought up to but never into the original ceilings; flexible head detailing taken to slab via the cellular ceiling void to maintain acoustic and fire seal. Higher-spec partition specification on the secure file room: two layers of 15mm fireline plasterboard each side over a continuous 60-minute fire-rated frame. Cable tray containment installed in ceiling void. First evening shifts on day 8 for noisy trades; logged with building security.
Parallel first-fix workstreams. Electrical: small power, lighting circuits, dedicated power for the secure file room, AV cable runs to both boardrooms, wired access control to the file room. HVAC modifications: VRF indoor unit positions adjusted around the new partition layout. Cat-6 F/UTP runs to all 32 open-plan workstations and all meeting rooms; 10Gb fibre uplink between the floor IDF and the building riser. Heritage joiner fabrication continues off-site.
Plasterboard taped, jointed, sanded and prepared for paint. Full survey of the listed reference cornice with the heritage joiner on site to confirm the run lengths, returns and mitre patterns ahead of replication in partner offices and the main boardroom. Second conservation officer site visit on Thursday: methodology, partition-to-ceiling detailing and reversibility documentation reviewed and signed off in writing. No remedial actions raised.
Heritage joinery delivered Monday morning. Install across the week: panelled partner-office doors, deep architraves, skirtings, picture rails, replicated cornice in partner offices and the main boardroom. Library shelving install on Wednesday-Thursday; sliding ladder rail set on the brass track, ladder hung Friday. Reception desk installed Friday afternoon. AV second-fix in both boardrooms in parallel: 85-inch and 75-inch displays bracketed and aligned, ceiling microphones and speakers terminated, Crestron processor stack racked.
Two coats of paint to all walls and exposed ceiling areas. New joinery stained to heritage match across all eight partner offices, the library, the boardrooms and reception. Carpet tiles laid across open-plan associate area; oak parquet-effect LVT to corridors and reception. Bar service cabinetry installed in the breakout, plumbed and tested with reversible-method tray-back routing through the floor void as approved. Secure file room internal build-out: two layers of 15mm fireline plasterboard internal lining, mobile racking system installed and run-tested.
Crestron-controlled AV commissioning across both boardrooms with the firm's IT consultant on site Tuesday-Wednesday: source switching, ceiling microphone array calibration, ceiling speaker zoning, room-booking integration, video conferencing in both standard and bring-your-own modes. Both boardrooms passed first-time commissioning; AV acceptance certificate signed Friday. Grade-1 BS EN 1300 vault door installed Wednesday; four-factor access (keypad, token, biometric, audit log) commissioned Thursday. Smoke detection in the file room cross-zoned with the building system. First-pass snagging walkthrough Friday afternoon.
Furniture installed across the floor: 8 partner offices, 32 open-plan workstations, library research desks, both boardroom tables, breakout seating. Final snag round Tuesday; remaining 11 items closed by Wednesday. Final fire alarm commissioning. Third and final conservation officer site visit on Thursday: full walkthrough against the LBC compliance file, no remedial actions logged, written sign-off issued on the Friday. Friday afternoon handover: keys, project file, O&M manuals, certification reports, AV acceptance certificate, vault door access logs, conservation officer sign-off and the LBC compliance binder all delivered to the Senior Partner. Occupancy 8am Monday of week nine.
The technical detail behind a Cat-B fit-out built to satisfy a senior partner, a conservation officer and a professional indemnity insurer in equal measure.
American walnut throughout, stained to a heritage match against the building's original timber palette. 8 traditional 6-panel partner-office doors with brass furniture, deep architraves and skirtings, picture rails, replicated decorative cornice in partner offices and the main boardroom matching the Grade II reference. Bespoke reception desk and breakout cabinetry in the same timber and finish.
Bespoke American walnut floor-to-ceiling shelving on two adjacent walls of the library, with adjustable shelf positions on a 32mm pitch system. Sliding library ladder on a 4m brass rail with rubber-tread steps and a deck for shelf-height working. Two solo research desks with under-desk power and Cat-6, articulated reading lamp at each.
Standard partition: 92mm metal stud, two layers 12.5mm acoustic plasterboard each side. Higher-spec boardroom partition with 100mm Rockwool RW3 core. Secure file room partition: 60-minute fire-rated frame with two layers of 15mm fireline plasterboard each side. All partition heads taken to slab via cellular ceiling void with flexible head seal; never fixed into original ceiling fabric.
Main boardroom: dual 85-inch 4K displays, ceiling microphone array, six ceiling speakers in two zones, Crestron processor with single-touch source switching, wireless presentation receiver, video conferencing in standard and bring-your-own modes, room-booking integration. Secondary boardroom: single 75-inch 4K display, ceiling microphone, ceiling speakers, matched Crestron control logic, room-booking integration, video conferencing.
60-minute fire-rated walls and ceiling (two layers of 15mm fireline plasterboard each side of a continuous fire-rated frame), no external windows, no service penetrations other than the controlled door. BS EN 1300 Grade-1 vault door with four-factor access: keypad PIN, electronic token, biometric fingerprint, full audit log retained for 7 years. Smoke detection cross-zoned with the building system. Mobile racking system rated for the floor loading.
Cat-6 F/UTP shielded across 76 channels (32 open-plan workstations + 8 partner offices + meeting and library positions + boardroom AV control). 10Gb fibre uplink between the floor IDF and the building service riser. Independent third-party channel certification at week 6: 76/76 first-time pass.
4m run of contemporary cabinetry in the breakout: integrated wine fridge, glasswasher, undercounter ice maker, twin-bowl undermount sink, quartz worktop. Plumbing run from the existing service riser through the floor void using fully reversible surface-mounted tray-back routing — no fixings into original joists, conservation officer-approved methodology.
Revised fire compartmentation per fire risk assessment. Smoke and heat detection extended to every new room and the secure file room. New compartmentation walls fire-rated FD30 with intumescent strips on every door. Secure file room fire rating verified independently. Listed Building Consent confirmed all fire-strategy alterations as compliant with both Building Regulations and the heritage requirements of the listed shell.
A 920m² Cat-B professional services fit-out within a Grade II listed shell on Colmore Row, delivered against an 8-week fixed-price contract with no variation orders, three clean conservation officer site visits, every one of 76 Cat-6 channels certified at first measurement, both boardrooms passing AV commissioning at first attempt, the secure file room's BS EN 1300 vault door commissioned and audit-logged a full week before live use, and the firm in occupation at 8am Monday of week nine. The senior partner held the first board meeting in the main boardroom that Tuesday afternoon. The conservation officer's written sign-off — issued on the Friday of week 8, no remedial actions logged — sits inside the LBC compliance binder we delivered with the keys.
The heritage joinery is the photograph the firm uses on its new website: panelled partner-office doors with brass furniture, replicated cornice running clean across the main boardroom ceiling, the American walnut library shelving with its sliding brass-rail ladder, the reception desk in matched walnut deferring deliberately to the listed principal staircase behind it. The contemporary breakout sits as the modern counterpoint — full bar service, quartz worktop, plumbing routed reversibly through the original floor void with the conservation officer's written agreement on file. The Canary Wharf HQ Fit-Out we delivered earlier in the year was a different project in a different city for a different sector; this one was the same methodology applied to a heritage shell, for a tenant who needed the building's listed status protected as carefully as their professional indemnity exposure.
We are a long-established Birmingham law firm and Colmore Row is the address our clients expect. The building is Grade II listed, which is wonderful and demanding in equal measure. We tendered three contractors. Building Group came in second on price by fourteen thousand pounds. We chose them because their methodology document was the only one to put the Listed Building Consent application, the conservation officer engagement schedule and the reversibility statement inside the contract sum, the only one to name the heritage joiner and price the joinery as a fixed sub-contract rather than an allowance, and the only one to specify the secure file room to a BS EN 1300 standard inside the contract rather than as a likely variation. The cheaper bid would have hit us with both as variations within the first month. Eight weeks later the partners walked into a building that looked as though we had been there for fifty years. The conservation officer signed off with no remedial actions, the joinery is the photograph on our new website, the boardrooms switch and present at the first touch, and the file room locks like a bank vault. We would use them again, and we have already recommended them to two of our peer firms on the Row.
If you're moving your firm into a Grade II shell, refurbishing a heritage suite, or refitting any office where the building's listed status has to be protected as carefully as the professional standards inside it, we'll come out for a free site visit, walk the existing space with your senior partner, practice manager and IT consultant, and put a fixed-price methodology document on your desk — with the Listed Building Consent application, the heritage joinery package, the AV specification and the secure file room all costed in.
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