The ‘hammer’ used to bring a prime North London industrial property to fruition would have put most rivals to shame……it weighed in at a cool 10 tonnes!
Midpoint is a high quality building strategically located on Jeffreys Road between junction 25 of the M25 and the A406 North Circular Road.
However, whilst the site was extremely desirable – surrounding occupiers include DHL, John Lewis and Tesco.com – it required extensive ground improvement due to poor conditions underfoot.
HBPW Partner Emyr Parry said: “We decided to specify dynamic compaction across the site, to avoid requirement for piling, so that we could provide competent ground to support building loads. At the outside we had to be mindful of the possible damage piling might cause to adjacent properties – largely due to vibration – hence the dynamic compaction route.”
Midpoint’S 10 tonne conical hammer at work
Nevertheless, a huge 10 tonne conical ‘hammer’ still had to be drafted in in order to take the project to the next stage.
“Dynamic compaction is achieved by dropping a 10tonne conical weight from around 10m on a regular grid across the site. The resulting depressions are then filled with stone and the process repeated until the ground is satisfactorily stabilised. The strategy was a complete success,” added Emyr.
Firm ground meant engineers were then able to erect a 100x50m warehouse with 10 metres of clear internal height along with first and second floor storage and office areas.
“In designing the steelwork, foundations and external works, we sought to future proof the building by creating inbuilt flexibility. That means it can either work as one large unit or be split into two or three smaller ones, giving letting agents – and prospective clients – more flexibility.
The development, which is suitable for manufacturing or logistics, also features Palisade security fencing, 28m deep service yards and translucent roof panels.
Work in Progress