- Abbey
- Avenue Road
- Aspect
- Blaw Knox
- Burghfield Mill
- Comet Square
- Crayland Lane
- Crown Mansions
- Dean Park
- Fairclough Street
- First Central, Park Royal
- Gleneagle
- Hart Street
- Heathside
- Jubliee Square
- Normansfield Hospital
- Ransom Court
- River Side
- Sandhurst Park
- Shoreham Street
- Springwell Lane
- St Johns Church
- Stone
St Johns Church
The project was to convert and extend a derelict church in Wapping which had suffered bomb damage during the second world war, retaining and restoring its clock tower as the main feature and building new apartments around.
As Seen on TV
Just prior to commencement of work on site, the church clock tower was used in the episode of “Friends” where Ross came over to England to marry Emily. The internal shots were obviously taken within a studio, hence the absence of Hard Hats at the wedding.
The Site
The site was a derelict church which had retained its clock tower and crypt on a small site on the corner of Scandrett Street, Tench street and Green bank in Wapping. The crypt and adjoining grave yard land had to have burials and coffins sensitively relocated before the land could be decontaminated, with all these works carried out by a specialist due to risk of disease.
The removals did create some issues of settlement within the site as they were deeper than expected and excavations adjacent the crypt walls and adjoining building had to be carried out
The Design
The existing Tower was retained along with the crypt walls which retained Scandrett Street and Green Bank pavements/roads. These walls had to be temporarily propped during demolition of the crypt roof slab.
The proposed foundation design took into consideration various issues including the high water table due to the nearby River Thames, the possible migration of contamination from historic burials and the stability of the adjacent highways and buildings, particularly the listed clock tower. The base slab of the crypt was retained and punched through at various positions to accommodate new piles which would support the proposed foundation raft slab. The piling had to be carried out very carefully to avoid affecting the retained clock tower, crypt walls and their historic foundations
The new basement structure, with external RC walls and internal loadbearing masonry walls was built in and around the existing structure, forming new lightwells and basement access accordingly. The RC walls were designed to highway standards to support parking within the site and the highway along Green Bank.
The load bearing basement walls supported a new suspended precast concrete floor system and the timber framed apartment superstructure. The timber framed structure over was designed by a specialist, however due to the general arrangement of the building, the external façade needed structural support in various locations which included the use of steel support members combined with reinforced masonry to combat deflections and headroom issues.
The new building had to match the existing as near as practicable and materials were sourced from various demolished buildings within the locality of approximately the same age and structural properties.
