Paddington Green Police Station

Wind-tunnel testing and temporary works design reduces high-rise concrete volumes & embodied carbon

Project Overview
This redevelopment of the former Paddington Green Metropolitan Police station consists of three towers of 17, 24 and 40 stores, over a double-level basement. It will deliver 556 affordable new homes including private, intermediate and social rent units, with flexible commercial units on the ground floor.

Scope
Walsh’s high-rise expertise was chosen to employ a Eurocode-based wind analysis and ensure the structural integrity of the towers without being overly conservative.

Structural Design and Wind Analysis
Rigorous wind tunnel testing was conducted to offer the most realistic analysis possible. Our findings led to a reduction in concrete volume of the core by 35%, and embodied carbon by 25%.

Basement Connection and Construction Techniques
In the basement, we established a connection link to the nearby West End Gate development that Berkeley has also taken on. This connection, passing under Newcastle Place, maintains access during construction to minimise disruption and ensure optimal programme efficiency. Due to the high density of services occupying the ground below Newcastle Place, a top-down form of construction was implemented which used plunge piles with plunge stanchions.

Basement Diaphragm Wall Re-use
Walsh has performed extensive analyses to inform re-use and retention of the existing basement diaphragm wall within the proposed development. We devised a temporary works strategy including buttress piles to support the diaphragm wall and minimise congestion within the basement space.

Temporary Works Strategy
With numerous sensitive assets around the site it has been critical to inform the temporary works strategy with a detailed Ground Movement Assessment.

The Walsh Ground Movement Assessment was used to assess refinements of the temporary works sequence as well as to allow coordination of buttress piles with permanent bearing pile design wherever possible. To provide further cost and embodied carbon benefits to the project we are designing a piled raft foundation which takes into consideration the presence of existing piled foundations.