A new Community House for the Salesians of St John Bosco. The development provides accommodation to the members of the religious community and short-stay accommodation for visitors, in study bed-rooms and dormitories. It also includes a lounge, meeting rooms, kitchen, dining facilities and a chapel.
The new development is built on the site of the old building, which was demolished with exception of a colonnade and wall along the boundary at the back of the site. Accommodation is provided over three storeys above a new basement, aligned with and built up to the pavement of Surrey Lane. A newly landscaped garden is created behind the new structures.
Due to the presence of a high ground water level, the proximity of the pavement and buried services, the retaining walls to the new basement are formed by secant piles acting in conjunction with a reinforced concrete liner wall. Internal column and core walls are supported by piles.
With the exception of the chapel, the superstructure is formed by a reinforced concrete frame. Floors are designed as relatively thin flat slabs. To minimise thickness of floors finite element modelling was adopted and detailed checks carried out allowing for creep and shrinkage deformations, to ensure satisfactory long-term performance. Reinforced concrete cores are used to provide lateral stability.
The chapel is tall single storey steel framed building supported by a piled raft slab. To reduce the weight of the building the internal panels of the Infill walls to the frame adopt light-gauge steel panels. Lightweight flat steel braces are incorporated in the panels to provide stability against wind loads.
As well as using advanced analytical and design tools to enable lean structure a variety of other measures are adopted to minimise adverse environmental impacts.
For example, recycled aggregates and binder replacements that use waste products from heavy industry – pfa, ggbfs etc. – are specified to lower the carbon content of concrete. Below ground drainage follows the principles of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). The project achieved a BREEAM rating of Very Good.
The project has been received a judges commendation at the Bricks Development Associations Award 2017.
It was also Highly Commended at the UK Properties Awards and was shortlisted at the New London Awards and RIBA London Awards.