Stratford Waterfront

This development is part of the new East Bank cultural and educational district within the Queen Elizabeth Park, and the four buildings will accommodate 10,500 students for the London College of Fashion and University College London, a 550-seat Sadler’s Wells theatre, a new museum run by the Victoria and Albert and Smithsonian Institute, and new BBC music studios.

We began by setting up vibration, noise and dust monitoring to protect the local environment before we commenced the groundworks. This comprised tree removal, excavation, soil remediation, breaking out of underground structures, setting up crane mats and hoist bases for other contractors, construction of an estate road and temporary access roads, drainage and utilities, and dewatering.

Once these were in place our teams started on the infrastructure package of works, which included:

• Temporary utilities and drainage – Site-wide temporary services including LV, telecommunications, potable water, and foul and surface water drainage.
• Permanent utilities and drainage – We provided service pits and trenches; below-ground drainage including pipework, manholes, and connections; and CCTV drainage testing/jetting.
• Permanent utilities connections – Testing and commissioning for 11Kv power cables, telecommunications, potable water, surface water drainage, foul water drainage, and low-pressure gas. We also carried out excavations and backfilling for the district heating network, which was installed by others.

Substructure works on the project included: lift pits, ground beams, retaining walls, movement and construction joints, plinths, staircases, door pits, a gas membrane, lightning protection, and earthing. Once these works were complete, we waterproofed the substructures, installing a damp-proof membrane, tanking, and stopping.