Sheet Piling UK is ‘Silent Partner’ in Greenwich Housing Regeneration Project
Steel sheet pile design and silent sheet pile driving and vibrationless sheet pile installation services, supplied by Sheet Piling UK, have played their part in delivering an exciting development of new homes, recreational areas and commercial facilities on a site in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, which was formerly a vacant brownfield site, comprising scattered scrub and woodland.
The high-quality mixed-use development – now known as The Square – sits alongside Kidbrooke rail station and was delivered by Transport for London (TfL) and Notting Hill Genesis, one of the country’s largest housing associations and a social enterprise committed to creating thriving communities and providing homes for lower-income households.
The underutilised site, formerly part of an RAF base and later used as operational land during the construction of the A2, is now a vibrant place to live and home to 619 new homes, across eight buildings, with 310 being privately owned, 157 shared ownership properties and 152 affordable rent apartments.
As well as boasting attractive new homes, The Square also comprises workspace and retail outlets around a main square and has a focus on pleasant and environmentally friendly public realm. It is conveniently just 10 minutes’ drive from the o2 and 15 minutes from London Bridge and has useful rail connections – to Waterloo, Charing Cross and Victoria, as well as Lewisham, where links to the Docklands Light Railway can be picked up.
Sheet Piling UK was invited to work on this community-focused regeneration scheme and new housing development, by contractor John F Hunt and provided a proposal for the design, supply and installation of sheet piles that would form temporary but sacrificial earthworks. The sheet piles installed were intended to assist with construction works at what was a sloping site, by enabling excavation works on the site’s boundary with the A2.
Using sheet piles was part of a strategy to achieve new site levels, following the removal of some soil from the four-acre area. As sheet pile installation had to be carried out close to the A2, all works were designed by Sheet Piling UK’s in-house team according to BD2/02 (Technical Approval of Highway Structures), with the service provided including design and check procedures and certification.
The suggested design solution was a combination of cantilever and propped elements, with each element used according to the height of the retained earthworks. All complied with the structure deflection criteria set out in the Approval in Principal document and the design involved installing around 400 Emirates Steel ESZ sheet pile sections, varying in length between 8 and 14 metres.
To accommodate the requirements for low environmental and community impacts, Sheet Piling UK took advantage of the prevailing firm-to-stiff London Clay soil, to suggest the use of silent sheet pile driving and vibrationless sheet piling installation, using its Kowan ZU100 pile press.
During the six weeks of work, every one of the steel sheet piles used was drawn directly from Sheet Piling UK’s extensive UK stockholding, ensuring no hold-ups and total flexibility. This provided J F Hunt with both cost and programme benefits, enabling a speed upswing in project delivery, once Covid-19 restrictions, which had delayed the project, were lifted.
Those strolling the tranquil walkways, or enjoying the focal point of The Square’s fountain, will never ponder how work at the site was made possible. However, it gives our team great satisfaction to know that we have played a part in a development which the Deputy Mayor of London, Jules Pipe, said, “is exactly the kind of site we need to intensify, to deliver the homes that Londoners need” and which it is anticipated will create 120 new permanent jobs and enable reinvestment into the transport network, as well as enhancing community amenities.
To contact us about sheet pile works for other regeneration and housing development projects like this, please call 01772 794141 or email enquiries@sheetpilinguk.com
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Sheet Piling (UK) Limited is one of the UK's leading piling contractors. Owning and operating a comprehensive range of specialist piling equipment Sheet Piling (UK) Ltd also carry extensive stocks of new and used piles enabling rapid reaction to any urgent requirements or emergency situations.