Sectors
Development
Salisbury Square Development, City of London Corporation (Delivered by a Sonnet director whilst at Avison Young)
Sonnet brings extensive experience delivering large-scale development projects from inception through to completion. Our directors have managed schemes ranging from £20 million to more than £600 million, including mixed-use masterplans, office and residential developments, institutional buildings, major studio developments and complex sites requiring significant infrastructure and enabling works.
We work with institutional investors and developers to turn strategic ambition into practical, deliverable schemes. Our approach combines development advisory expertise — including viability, phasing and planning strategy — with hands-on project delivery, helping clients protect long-term value while responding to commercial, planning and technical constraints.
Our experience includes build-to-rent, commercial, leisure, hotel and institutional projects, together with demolition, remediation, utilities diversions and infrastructure delivery. We understand the demands of institutional development, including funding requirements, occupier coordination, complex planning obligations and the need to deliver to demanding budgets and programmes without compromising quality or strategic intent.
Refurbishment
The Anna Freud Centre, Kings Cross, London (Delivered by a Sonnet director whilst at Avison Young)
Our directors have extensive experience delivering complex refurbishment and cut-and-carve projects across commercial office, retail and mixed-use assets. Our partners have managed schemes ranging from £5 million to more than £80 million, including listed buildings, adaptive reuse projects and technically demanding interventions within existing structures.
We work with institutional investors and asset managers to balance heritage considerations, commercial strategy, tenant requirements and modern operational standards. Our experience includes office conversions, retail refurbishment, façade replacement, structural alterations, services diversions and the installation of modern building systems within historic fabric.
We understand the particular demands of institutional refurbishment: protecting asset value and rental income, managing funder and occupier requirements, navigating listed-building consents and neighbourly matters, and achieving contemporary standards for environmental performance, HVAC, technology and flexibility without compromising the character or integrity of the building.
Commercial Fit-Out
170 Piccadilly, GPE (Delivered by a Sonnet director whilst at Avison Young)
We combine project management and design coordination expertise to fit-out and workplace transformation projects. Our Directors have delivered fit-outs ranging from £0.5m to £20m+, managing the particular complexity of phased delivery within occupied buildings, tenant requirements, and fast-tracked procurement.
We specialise in understanding corporate occupier needs — whether upgrading existing Cat A and Cat B fit-outs, delivering flexible working spaces for multiple tenants, or transforming heritage office buildings into modern workplace environments. Our experience includes programme management and design team coordination to deliver workplace projects on time and budget, often whilst buildings remain in use.
We are comfortable managing pre-let consultations and accommodation planning, ensuring office solutions reflect occupier strategy and operational requirements. We have successfully delivered ‘plug and play’ fully fitted projects within institutional investor portfolios (Legal & General, Great Portland Estates), coordinating landlord and tenant requirements through detailed fit-out delivery.
Our approach to workplace projects emphasises sustainability credentials (NABERS, BREEAM, energy-efficient systems) and creating spaces that support modern working practices — from agile working and collaborative zones to private focus spaces and meeting facilities.
Regeneration & Masterplan
Bristol Temple Island, Legal & General (Delivered by a Sonnet director whilst at Potter Raper)
Complex regeneration requires more than conventional project management. We have institutional-level advisory experience on transformational urban regeneration schemes. Our partners have led major developments from inception through detailed delivery, working with institutional investors (pension funds, insurance funds, corporate occupiers) to navigate complex masterplans, multi-phase delivery, and highly constrained sites.
We specialise in managing the strategic complexity that sits beyond traditional project delivery: from development agreement negotiation and viability modelling through institutional funding structures, pre-let tenant requirements, planning strategy, and stakeholder coordination across multiple years of conception, masterplanning, and approval.
Our work spans schemes ranging from £25m to £600m+, including mixed-use masterplans with residential, commercial, leisure, and hotel components; heritage-sensitive regeneration in constrained locations; greenfield development in protected landscapes; and city-centre demolition and rebuild programmes. We have navigated contentious planning scenarios, infrastructure-level coordination, and the complexity of phased delivery across multiple funding streams and stakeholder groups.
Education
Centre Buildings, London School of Economics (Delivered by a Sonnet director in the capacity of Client)
Our education experience spans higher education, independent schools and specialist learning environments. Our directors have managed projects ranging from £3m to £150m+, with particular expertise in heritage-listed educational buildings, phased delivery within operational campuses, and managing the unique requirements of teaching and learning environments.
We specialise in working with leading educational institutions — from major research universities to independent schools and specialist academies — to translate educational strategy into practical, deliverable places. This includes understanding end-user needs (students, faculty, staff), managing operational continuity during construction, and delivering spaces that genuinely support teaching and learning.
Our experience spans new-build academic facilities with state-of-the-art teaching spaces (lecture theatres, seminar rooms, collaborative study areas); refurbishment of historic university and school buildings requiring sensitive heritage management; adaptive reuse of listed buildings for contemporary educational use; and masterplanning of major campus transformation programmes. We have managed significant institutional capital projects involving complex enabling works, services diversions, and phased delivery within live, operational environments.
We understand the particular constraints of education delivery: maintaining campus operations during construction, coordinating diverse academic requirements, managing sensitive heritage buildings and constrained city-centre sites, navigating planning sensitivities in conservation areas, and delivering projects where design and functionality directly impact educational outcomes. We have delivered major schemes to tight programmes and budgets whilst maintaining rigorous stakeholder coordination with universities, neighbouring institutions, and local authorities.
Arts & Culture
Jewellery Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Delivered by a Sonnet director whilst at Avison Young)
Sonnet's directors have delivered transformational projects for some of the UK's leading cultural institutions. We have successfully managed major theatre projects, transformational gallery refurbishments, collections storage projects, temporary exhibition spaces, and visitor-facing facilities at some of the UK's most prominent museums.
Our work spans heritage-sensitive interventions including conservation-focused lighting installations, precision display case engineering, and adaptive reuse of historic spaces—delivered whilst managing the complexity of maintaining institutional operations. We have managed projects ranging from £2m to £30m, with expertise in conservation planning, stakeholder engagement, complex logistics, and the technical challenges unique to working within protected heritage environments.
We understand the particular demands of working within cultural institutions: protecting priceless and irreplaceable collections throughout construction, maintaining tight environmental controls for conservation, and coordinating public safety and access in buildings that often remain open to visitors throughout the works. Exhibition and gallery projects also carry fixed, immovable deadlines — loan agreements, insurance schedules and marketing commitments mean opening dates cannot slip — and we bring the same discipline to hitting those dates as we do to protecting the fabric and content of the buildings themselves