TIQ Glasshouse Gardens

Value engineering to explore foundation options on site with challenging ground conditions

A project within the Stratford City scheme, requiring diagnostics and value engineering. Walsh were able to achieve a cost effective and well-implemented concrete frame solution on a highly compromised piece of land.

Walsh were appointed to bring our structural and civil expertise to this development of a 30-storey and a 17-storey block of residential apartments with penthouses at the upper levels.

Our main challenge was the ground conditions. The site is on an area of land formed with spoil and contaminated fill from the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Stratford Box. Several foundation constraint solutions were investigated, including the limitations on piling techniques, amount of spoil and associated foundation sizes and risks. Further complications arose due to a network of services running through at varying levels connecting the Olympic Park with the surrounding infrastructure.

Walsh carried out a value engineering exercise on the stability system, investigating a range of options and using BIM Level 2 software to demonstrate potential solutions.

We designed the concrete frame and used lean construction techniques such as thin slabs and a minimal stability system to reduce all material quantities. This resulted in a 40% saving in concrete volume within the core and allowed for a much smaller jump form system. We were also able to offer planning support from design stage right through to completion.