Index

Our engineering and geoconsultancy team are helping convert an unoccupied mixed-use building in the Mayfair conservation area into high-end apartments. Repairs due to water damage and rotting timber in the main building and retaining the protected façade of the Reeves Mews building. The lower ground floor extends under the garden and most of Reeves Mews. Works include structural repairs, internal reconfiguration, and demolition and rebuild of Reeves Mews with façade retention. Borehole investigations required drilling through the garage and basement floors, supported by a temporary propping solution.

This iconic Grade II listed building, fronting onto the Thames, has been beautifully retrofitted (Cat A) to create a flexible working space in the Shell Mex building.

A new fully-glazed entrance pavilion designed and installed and new breakout spaces in the form of two double-heigh pavilions in the main lightwell, re-igniting the previously back of house area the pavilion sits in.

Some of the engineering is complex with existing trusses and beams having to be cut to gain access to the lightwell pavilions. We specified cutting two 17m long bridge trusses and some major bridge beams. This was accomplished by propping the existing structure off the new pavilions, which are themselves supported on transfer beams and new foundations at basement level. The new-build entrance pavilion was fabricated by Seele, and the challenges here were associated with creating an elegant structure with very slender elements which is yet able to accept high-spec glazing.

AVRO is the culmination of our engineering team’s decade long commitment to the preservation of the building formally known as Brownsfield Mill. From original structural stabilisation work through to the structural refurbishment and strengthening. Now home to 31 canal side loft apartments with some new external structures including a link bridge and a feature staircase designed with a visually honest engineering approach to complement the aesthetic of the wider development.  

The site is currently dissected by a four and sometimes eight lane highway and underbridge causing high degree of severance to the neighbourhood and wider community. Working with dRMM and LDA, a proposal was set to reduce the highway footprint by 50% and lift the carriageway level with the surrounding landscape, dramatically improving the environmental quality of the neighbourhood, while repurposing the abandoned underpasses as surface water storage as part of a wider SuDS system. This strategy had an important positive impact on commercial viability and deliverability, offering up the opportunity to build an addition 500 new homes.

Zero carbon social rent homes

Among the first zero carbon social housing in the UK certified to Passivhaus Standard. Our building services team designed the MEP for the 22 semi-detached homes to be flexible; floor cassettes incorporate open web floor joists which form a service zone, external walls incorporate dedicated service zone for vertical service runs – this allows building services to be easily reconfigured to adapt to future needs. Adopting Passivhaus design standards reduced operational energy use and addressed potential overheating issues. The homes are all electric aligning with the forthcoming Part L ‘future Homes Standard’ 2025.

The Multiversity will provide a high-quality purpose-built educational facility with a range of teaching and learning spaces, event and exhibition spaces. Our engineers developed the civil and structural design for the first building, a predominantly five-storeys 250,000 sqft facility. The second phase will provide an additional two buildings, totalling 136,000 sqft up to a maximum height of four-storeys. Our geoconsultancy team carried out a Phase 1 desk study and produced the scope for, and managed the site investigations.

The new build £15M Blyth Cultural Centre for Northumberland County Council includes three independent cinema screens, a café bar, creative learning space, and a multi-purpose town hall events space with capacity for 200 people. The development site is within Blyth Market Square, home to the Blyth Market. These proposals are part of an overall £90m masterplan to regenerate the town centre and the wider area called Energising Blyth. 

Large scale retail redevelopment

We led extensive community engagement for the proposed redevelopment of Glasgow’s Buchanan Galleries shopping centre into a mixed use, net-zero urban district – a masterplan developed by Foster + Partners. Through creative consultation activity – including youth photography workshops and entertaining public events – they gathered diverse input, highlighting priorities like accessibility, safety and green spaces. The project aimed to shape a vibrant city centre reflecting the evolving needs of Glasgow’s communities.

A bold transformation of a 1960s office building into a vibrant, award-winning mixed-use development, Cannon Green demonstrates innovation in structural design. and adaptive reuse. The existing towers were maximised through the inclusion of additional storeys and roof terraces, transforming the basement into leisure facilities and creating a new glazed podium entrance with restaurant, lobby and communal workspaces. 

Delivering a city-wide Passivhaus housing programme

Working with the City of York to delivery three housing projects, with more in the pipeline, as part of their commitment to delivering 600 Passivhaus certified homes and their pledge to meet net-zero carbon targets.

Leeds Climate Innovation District (CID) for CITU is the largest sustainable project in the UK. As civil, structural and transport engineers we’ve been involved from the start of this project which aims to create sustainable communities, close to the city centre, in low carbon developments.