The Gables
Showcase
Project Value:£600k Project Partners: Croft Architecture Services Provided: Structural Design
We were instructed by Croft Architecture on behalf of a private client to provide structural design for a replacement two-storey detached dwelling. Built on a new footprint after the existing house was demolished.
The brief covered structural calculations and drawings to satisfy Building Control approval, including the vaulted roof, large glazed gable elevations, first floor and foundations. It was later extended to cover the reinforced ground beam design and the full drainage and external works design for the site.
We provided the structural design for the new annexe, including the vaulted roof, timber first floor and loadbearing cavity walls, together with the loadings for the foundations. Our design also covered the retaining structures around the site, with reinforced hollow-block retaining walls ranging from 450mm to 1,250mm of retention and an analysis of a 2m cantilever retaining wall, alongside a 200mm reinforced concrete slab, rear-of-wall drainage and movement joints.
The site levels changed significantly, with the neighbouring dwellings sitting up to around 2.4m above the new floor level. Retaining walls were needed along the boundaries close to the neighbouring properties, so the zone of excavation influence and water pressure behind the walls had to be considered. As the retained height varied around the site, a range of retaining wall details was developed, with reinforcement introduced where walls exceeded 900mm.
The final design provided a robust structural solution for the new garage and first-floor annexe. Working alongside b3architecturaldesign, the retaining wall design allowed the annexe to sit safely within the sloping site alongside its neighbours, and the annexe has now been built and completed.
