This prominent purpose-built student accommodation development in the heart of the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea regeneration area was delivered by our long term client, Urbanest and is an example of a successful asset delivered in line with client requirements, despite particularly challenging site and construction constraints.
Challenges to be overcome included the very small site footprint and its adjacency to the railway and a telecommunications infrastructure hub surrounded by other landowners with ongoing construction works. Considering this, the project required meticulous attention to detail when applying construction methodologies and sequencing to the asset whilst also completing the work ahead of the scheduled date for student occupation.
The lack of on-site storage and laydown space meant that deliveries had to be planned ‘just in time’ and offsite pre-manufacturing methods were maximised. The substructure comprises a raft solution as the site would not have been able to accommodate the 1200mm diameter piling rig that would otherwise have been required.
All of these issues were addressed through a collaborative design and procurement strategy engaging with Balfour Beatty, with whom the client has a long term relationship. Balfour Beatty have also used this project to showcase their commitment to increasing pre-manufactured value through their ’25% by 2025’ initiative, which aims to reduce on-site labour by 25% by 2025.
The building features a standout bullnosed apex to one of the corners of the slender triangular-shaped building footprint with similarities to the famous Flat Iron building in New York. The cladding design and methodology chosen is now the tallest unitised brick façade in the UK, specifically chosen to increase pre-manufactured value and to accelerate programme and predictability of delivery.
Further aspects of the internal fit-out and engineering services were also pre-manufactured, with the largest element including the bathrooms via the use of a Category 5 MMC pod solution. This enabled maximum standardisation with a high-quality design-led solution.
