Canary Wharf BP3

KEY FACTS

LOCATION: Canary Wharf, London
CONTRACTOR: Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd
CLIENT: Canary Wharf Group Ltd
CONSULTANT: WSP Cantor Seinuk Inc and Waterman Partnership
VALUE: £9.5m
SECTORS: Commercial, mixed use, residential and retail
SERVICES: Building and Civil Engineering

BP3 is a commercial office development located in the Canary Wharf Estates housing the UK headquarters of a high profile international investment bank with a total gross floor area of 17,500m².

Canary Wharf BP3 1
Canary Wharf BP3 2
Canary Wharf BP3 3

Kilnbridge was appointed by Canary Wharf Contractors to construct the reinforced concrete (RC) substructure and superstructure for the new development.

The substructure consisted of a two-level basement construction within an existing partially demolished basement and a new basement construction within a large cofferdam, extending the usable land into the existing dock. A complex concrete transfer structure had to be constructed to allow load transfer from the 75m-high concrete cores over the existing basement and the listed old docks "banana" wall. A deep piled raft slab was built to deal with uplift and water tightness in the cofferdam section.

Programme constraints and limited crane availability meant that the concrete cores (of which the main core measured 500m of walls on plan) had to be slip formed while allowing the remaining RC frame substructure and steel-framed superstructure to commence below the slip form assembly. Kilnbridge redesigned the substructure reinforcement to incorporate "carpet" reinforcement, which significantly reduced the programme time for steel fixing and saved six weeks from the initial 23-week substructure programme.

The works also included the design development, detailing and construction of a marine structure, where we combined our experience in pre-casting, heavy lifting and marine works with underwater welding to provide an additional structure over the water. The 14 floors of superstructure comprised the two main slip-formed concrete cores and a satellite core as well as composite concrete floors on metal decking. Kilnbridge also carried out various packages of builders works, enabling works and external works on this project.