All-female team head up Warwick Court redevelopment

This month, work started on a new retrofit by Mitsubishi and Stanhope at Warwick Court, a redevelopment of Goldman Sach’s former headquarters on Paternoster Square in the City. A notable first for Stanhope, it is led by an all-female team at senior level.

Laura Collins, Stanhope’s Project Director on Warwick Court explains of the project team “It came about out of pure coincidence. The contractors that we chose had fantastic women leading them, so it all came about organically. But I remember taking a step back and realising that this was the most women driven team I’ve ever worked with on a project.”

Stanhope began the 12-month retrofit of prestigious office project Warwick Court scheme next to St Paul’s Cathedral this month. The building was originally completed by Stanhope and Mitsubishi Estate London 17 years ago. The redevelopment is part of Stanhope’s wider retrofit agenda, bringing historic projects back to life. Warwick Court will see significant updates, from a complete reconfiguration of the ground floor to the incorporation of touch free services to meet changing industry requirements. With a firm focus on sustainability, existing materials will be retained and re-used where possible to reduce waste and save on carbon emissions.

Driving forward the project is a team of senior female professionals spanning design, construction, development management and sustainability including Lead Architect Mari Samuelson and Interior Design Lead Amanda Baldwin both of Fletcher Priest Associates. Chloe Souque of Waterman Group is the projects Sustainability Lead with a focus on minimising carbon use. While Laura Thomas of Mace will lead construction having worked on a number of prestigious projects and Lara Samworth of Stanhope will direct the leasing.

This senior team came together organically rather than having anything planned to help advocate gender equality. It’s unexpected nature heralds a moment in time and benchmark for the future of women working in the property sector in London.