Apartments, Totteridge Lane, London N20
Phase One saw the formation of a 600m2 basement to provide car parking to this very high-specification development.  One-sided shutters were used to pour waterproof concrete against driven piles, to form walls up to 600mm thick.  A 600mm thick suspended slab over the top at ground floor level (also using concrete with a CALTITE additive) completed the basement construction.  A ground bearing ramp gave access to the basement from the entrance.  Concrete was to be left "as-struck" so high quality shuttering was of the essence.

Phase Two consisted of two complete floors of concrete frame, including columns which were designed to become integral with the internal walls of the apartments, 250mm thick flat slabs and an octagonal core consisting of a lift shaft and stair well. 

The construction of the superstructure was originally going to be of a block and beam construction, but the developer was so impressed with the standard of the basement construction, as well as the inherrant sound and fire proofing qualities of concrete, that he instructed the structural engineer to re-design the frame using concrete.  We were happy to assist wherever possible in this re-design including best use of rebar, practical column sizing etc.

Finally we constructed in-situ concrete stairs inside the octagonal core.  These were attached to the core walls using couplers.  The client wanted the stair waist to be a narrow as possible and eventually managed to design the waist thickness down to just 100mm.  This meant that the staircase had to curve and bend to accommodate the massive loadings.

This work was carried out directly for the Developer, Domus of London

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Offices at Temple Quay, Bristol
Six-storey building including basement car parking and heavy transfer slab. In-situ concrete frame to include for full design, supply and install package of pre-cast concrete stairs and landings to three stair cores.

Main contractor: Warings
Value £780,000
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Student Accommodation, Portsmouth
800 unit student accommodation block in Portsmouth City Centre. Podium slab with thick beams to transfer loads down to pile caps. Bedroom blocks constructed using tunnel-form system (two systems in use) allowing the complete formation of eight bedrooms per day, at peak, including walls and roof slab. 50 week contract including substructure, podium slab and bedroom levels.

Main Contractor: Warings
Value £1,400,000
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Swindon Hospital ICU
Three-storey flat slab construction. Slabs formed using tables. Completed in 10 weeks.

Main Contractor: Leadbitter Construction
Value £375,000
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Bedford Hospital Pathology Unit
Four-storey in-situ concrete frame. Package included groundworks and drainage. Underground plant room with retaining walls. Underpinning works to existing Victorian hospital buildings. Built in 18 weeks.

Main Contractor: Gleeson
Value £420,000
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Police HQ, Bridgend
Four-storey in-situ concrete frame. Built using tables.

Main Contractor: Mowlem Building
Value £375,000
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MK Secure Training Centre (substructure works only)
Foundations and ground floor slabs to accommodation blocks. Floors had to be power-floated to within 3mm over a 3 metre straight edge. Total concrete placed 1700m3. Total reinforcement fixed 350 tonnes.

Main Contractor: Gleeson
Value - £210,000

Cardiff Castle
Retaining walls around basement area. Slab over basement at ground floor slab level tied into medieval structure of existing castle and had to be poured in carefully controlled pours to prevent damage to retained façade. Complete in 12 weeks.

Main Contractor: OPCO Ltd
Value £310,000

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Cycle Bridge, Deanshanger
300 metre long cycle bridge spanning over a roundabout with 6 Y-shaped curved piers. Reckli profile finish to exposed edges. Curved on both plan and elevation.

Main Contractor: Kimbell Construction. Client: Northamptonshire County Council
Value £190,000

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Swansea Apartments
Underground car parking with associated retaining walls. Very heavy transfer slab over car park and rectangular part of building going up three floors with associated elliptical part going up four floors. A mix of Skydeck system and tables was used throughout to form slabs.

Value £600,000
Main Contractor: Cowlin Construction

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Cardiff Apartments
Six-storey flat slab construction on heavy transfer slab over ground-level car parking. Internal columns designed as part of the walls between rooms on finished apartments.

Main Contractor: Wimpey Homes
Value £710,000

Greenwich Apartments
All internal works within a very old ex-nurses accommodation block. New stair towers
constructed with in-situ flights and landings to seven floors. New walls within existing building
as well as new curved retaining walls to underground car park.

Main Contractor: Connaught Construction
Value £210,000

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Trinity School, Northampton
Full supply and fix package on basement retaining walls including in-situ step access.

Main Contractor: Gleeson
Value £68,000

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Tattenhoe School
Ground floor slab to new classroom block including lift pit.

Main Contractor: Gleeson
Value £25,000

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Basement Car Park, Berkhamstead
400m2 of 350mm thick flat slab construction with 400mm thick retaining walls under. Project included walls cast against sheet piling using Voltex waterproofing system. Completed in just four weeks.

Main Contractor: Kingsoak Homes
Value – £70,000

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Fountain at Letchworth
Construction of an octagonal fountain in the middle of Letchworth with associated pump room.
Concrete had to be placed very precisely (within 3mm) to allow for the subsequent fitting of the internal liner. Many pipes cast into pump room – again openings had to be very accurate.

Main Contractor: Miletree Construction
Value £26,000

Kander House, Regents Park (Primrose Hill)
This house featured on a Channel 4 programme – and was awarded an RIBA award in 2007.
An old Victorian house bought by an artist and a photographer, who wanted the innards of the house ripped out. The outside of the house was in danger of falling down, so the first thing we did was shore-up. Job included removing two floors of the rear elevation to allow construction of concrete “goalpost” comprising 8 metre high columns topped off with a 700mm x 700mm beam to support brickwork and roof. This arrangement allowed for a full glazed elevation over two full floors to the back of the house.

The clients wanted all the walls, worktops etc downstairs to be made from concrete, with a very shiny finish and slight imperfections to give a marble effect. This is unheard of as usually our brief is to make sure there are NO imperfections. We were able to achieve the desired effect by lining our shutters with heavy duty polythene. This was a very demanding job working in confined conditions, which made it very difficult to get the concrete into the shutters, however, the clients were extremely happy.
Value £150,000 - direct for house owners

For link to the architect's website and pictures click here and here and for the RIBA link click here

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Car Showroom MK
Insitu concrete stairs and mezzanine level slab to car showroom unit.
Main Contractor: Gleeson
Value £120,000

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Dock levellers Belvedere
Full supply and install package of 25 dock leveller units (approximately 200 individual pieces). Installation complete in three days.
Main Contractor: Ardmore Construction
Value £160,000

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