At the beginning of last year, Paramount was awarded the multi-million-pound fit out contract for the Grade II listed Hodge House building on St Mary’s Street, Cardiff. And last month, before COVID-19 closures were put in place, we successfully completed the transformation works of the eight-storey building, containing 110,000 sqft of office space.

Hodge House is a landmark building. Built in 1915, on the site of Cardiff’s original town hall, it boasts one of the finest clock towers in the UK. The building was originally divided into a range of retail departments, joint packing warehouse and a meat smokehouse.

Working with architecture firm Stride Treglown and commissioned by owner Legal and General, we also worked alongside JLL’s project management team and Hoare Lea. Thanks to the refurbishment, the character of this remarkable building has been revealed, and its rich and varied history can now be celebrated. A modern ‘defurbished’ look and feel has been achieved, with exposed ceilings and new CAT A office space that will house more than 1,100 staff.

The refurbishment included the replacement of all M&E systems, with the building being stripped back to reveal original cast iron decorative columns, riveted steel structures and a variety of exposed brick and plasterwork. The exposed features powerfully present the contrast between old and new. Other authentic period features include the vaulted ballroom ceiling and ornate heritage stair balustrading, which were also carefully renovated.

A new raised access floor was delivered, as well as lifts to the new reception area, WC and extended changing facilities.

There is currently a lack of Grade A office space within Cardiff. The refurbishment scheme delivered at Hodge House is fully supportive of modern ways of working, for which we are seeing an increasing demand for more agile, activity-based styles. This has been a prestigious project for our team to deliver, who have worked extremely hard over the past twelve months, and I am very proud of the results we have achieved together with the client project team.

— Richard Jones, Owner and Managing Director, Paramount

We look forward to celebrating the unveiling of Hodge House later in the year.