diff --git a/.clang-tidy b/.clang-tidy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab2e266
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.clang-tidy
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Checks: '-*,bugprone-*,performance-*,modernize-*'
+WarningsAsErrors: ''
+HeaderFilterRegex: 'src/.*'
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d4fb281..be640a8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -39,3 +39,6 @@
 
 # debug information files
 *.dwo
+
+# Build directories
+/build/
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ce8cf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.25)
+project(ExchangeSimulator VERSION 0.1 LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 23)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
+
+option(ENABLE_ASAN "Enable AddressSanitizer" OFF)
+if(ENABLE_ASAN)
+  if(MSVC)
+    add_compile_options(/fsanitize=address)
+    add_link_options(/fsanitize=address)
+  else()
+    add_compile_options(-fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer)
+    add_link_options(-fsanitize=address)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+option(ENABLE_CLANG_TIDY "Enable clang-tidy analysis" OFF)
+if(ENABLE_CLANG_TIDY)
+  find_program(CLANG_TIDY_EXE NAMES clang-tidy)
+  if(CLANG_TIDY_EXE)
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY ${CLANG_TIDY_EXE})
+  else()
+    message(WARNING "clang-tidy requested but executable not found")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+include(FetchContent)
+FetchContent_Declare(
+  spdlog
+  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/gabime/spdlog.git
+  GIT_TAG v1.12.0
+)
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(spdlog)
+add_definitions(-DSPDLOG_USE_STD_FORMAT -DSPDLOG_USE_STD_FORMAT_HO)
+
+add_subdirectory(src)
+
+# Tests
+option(BUILD_TESTING "Build tests" ON)
+if(BUILD_TESTING)
+  enable_testing()
+  add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c5dc79d..32a984e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1 +1,19 @@
-# ExchangeSimulator
\ No newline at end of file
+# ExchangeSimulator
+
+A cross-platform exchange matching engine simulator written in modern C++23.
+
+## Building
+
+```bash
+cmake -S . -B build
+cmake --build build
+```
+
+Pass optional flags to enable developer tooling:
+
+```bash
+cmake -S . -B build -DENABLE_ASAN=ON          # AddressSanitizer
+cmake -S . -B build -DENABLE_CLANG_TIDY=ON    # clang-tidy analysis
+```
+
+Requires the [spdlog](https://github.com/gabime/spdlog) library to be available to the build system.
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fac8ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# ExchangeSimulator Documentation
+
+Documentation will be added here.
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe6c49e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+add_library(core INTERFACE)
+target_include_directories(core INTERFACE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/core)
+target_link_libraries(core INTERFACE spdlog::spdlog_header_only)
+
+add_library(engine INTERFACE)
+target_include_directories(engine INTERFACE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/engine)
+
+add_executable(exchange_simulator sim/main.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(exchange_simulator PRIVATE core engine spdlog::spdlog_header_only)
+target_include_directories(exchange_simulator PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
diff --git a/src/core/logger.h b/src/core/logger.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5f8354
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/logger.h
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
+#include <string_view>
+
+namespace es {
+
+#define LOG_INFO(...) SPDLOG_INFO(__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOG_WARN(...) SPDLOG_WARN(__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOG_ERROR(...) SPDLOG_ERROR(__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOG_DEBUG(...) SPDLOG_DEBUG(__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOG_TRACE(...) SPDLOG_TRACE(__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOG_CRITICAL(...) SPDLOG_CRITICAL(__VA_ARGS__)
+
+}  // namespace es
diff --git a/src/engine/matching_engine.h b/src/engine/matching_engine.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96532f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/engine/matching_engine.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#pragma once
+
+namespace es {
+class MatchingEngine {
+public:
+    void run();
+};
+}
diff --git a/src/exchanges/cme/adapter.h b/src/exchanges/cme/adapter.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a79734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/exchanges/cme/adapter.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#pragma once
+
+namespace es::cme {
+class Adapter {
+public:
+    void connect();
+};
+}
diff --git a/src/exchanges/eurex/adapter.h b/src/exchanges/eurex/adapter.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..905d98e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/exchanges/eurex/adapter.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#pragma once
+
+namespace es::eurex {
+class Adapter {
+public:
+    void connect();
+};
+}
diff --git a/src/exchanges/ice/adapter.h b/src/exchanges/ice/adapter.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab551a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/exchanges/ice/adapter.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#pragma once
+
+namespace es::ice {
+class Adapter {
+public:
+    void connect();
+};
+}
diff --git a/src/sim/main.cpp b/src/sim/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca3ece1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/sim/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#include <core/logger.h>
+
+int main() {
+    SPDLOG_INFO("ExchangeSimulator skeleton");
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b7aa1da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# Placeholder for future tests