Projects

The latest chapter in the storied development history of these 19th century buildings involved uniting them into residential apartments and a state-of-the-art health club, wrapped in a restored classcial façade.

Derelict for many years, the original timber frames had deteriorated. Although not formally listed, it was desired not to lose the grand, historic red-brick façade. The existing four-storey buildings requiring demolition were therefore replaced by a new reinforced concrete frame, which also provided additional support and strengthening to the retained façade. Davies Maguire worked with the contractor to develop a complex temporary façade retention system to ensure stability during construction.

Due to the fragile nature of the historic elements to be retained, construction sequence for extending the basement had to be carefully considered. Ground movement had to be limited as much as possible in order to prevent cracking or other damage to the brittle elements, therefore underpinning was chosen as the lowest-impact technique. During the underpinning sequence, the existing retaining walls were propped using Kingposts, which were themselves propped against concrete thrust blocks. These blocks then eventually became part of the new raft slab supporting the façade vertical load. Davies Maguire’s design integrated the temporary works scheme into our permanent design, enabling the required demolition works and waste generated on site to be minimised.