View Publication

• You have asked to view a publication

• When you have finished viewing, click on in the toolbar to return to this screen.

• Now choose one of the following options:

view return to
publication publications
chosen list
P R O J E C T
P R O F I L E
 D.F.H. Bennett
BSc, MSc, CEng, MICE

and
I. Schnider FCIOB

FOREWORD
This publication was commissioned by the
Reinforced Concrete Campaign Group.
The Group was set up in 1988 to run a
promotional campaign aimed at providing
better knowledge and understanding of
concrete design and building technology.
Its members are Sheerness Steel plc
and Allied Steel and Wire Limited,
representing the major suppliers of
reinforcing steel in the UK, and the British
Cement Association, representing the
major manufacturers of Poriland cement
in the UK.
David Bennett is a Senior Engineer in
the Marketing Division of the British
Cement Association.
Irving Schnider was Construction
Dfrector for Marples International on the
South Quay Plaza Development.

CONTENTS
■ THE PROJECT 2
■ DESIGN General description of building 3
Specifications 3
Foundations and frame 3
Elevations and windows 4
■ CONSTRUCTION Substructure 4
Frame 5
Cladding 6
Selection of crane 7
Subcontractors 7
Winter working 8
■ IN SITU CONCRETE –
THE KEY TO SUCCESS 8
■ APPENDIX Project details 10

97.310 Published by the British Cement Association on behalf of the

First published 1989 industry sponsors of the Reinforced Concrete Campaign.
ISBN 721013821 British Cement Association
Wexhsm Springs, Slough SL3 6PL
Price Group C
Telephone Fulmer (0753)662727
© British Cement Association 1989 Fax (0753)660399 Telex 848352

All advice or information from the British Cement Association is intended for those who will evaluate the
significance and limitations of its contents and take responsibility for its use and application. No liability
(induding that for negligence) for any loss resulting from such advice or infoniiation is accepted. Readers
should note that all BCA publications are subject to revision from time to time and should therefore ensure
that they are in possession of the latest version.
1
P R O J E C T P R O F I L E

THE PROJECT
South Quay Plaza was the first major speculative
office development to be commenced in the
Enterprise Zone of the Isle of Dogs in the heart
of London Docklands. It consists of three
separate office buildings, together providing up
to 42 000 m2 of net internal floor area, with
space for over 500 cars.
Its distinctive form and prime position
establish a Docklands landmark which can be
seen from Greenwich Observatory and beyond.
The attractions of the development’s integrated
shopping piazza, waterside restaurant, ample
parking space, and road, rail, afr and water links
make it ideal for company relocation.
The Docklands Enterprise Zone had only
just come into operation when the original
scheme was conceived, so South Quay Plaza was
designed in three phases to minimize the risk of
building a high quality speculative project in a
newly developing area.
The commencement of each phase
depended on letting the previous phase, and the
masterplan was developed to allow the floor
area of each phase to be increased to match
anticipated market conditions. Phase One was
seven storeys. Phase Two was increased to ten
storeys and Phase Three to fifteen storeys.

View of South Quay during construction of Phase Three

So successful was the execution of the

project that the Daily Telegraph occupied Phase One,
for fitting out, one month in advance of
the original completion date. This achievement
can be attributed to the team approach taken by
Architect, Engineer, Contractor and Client on
all aspects of the design, construction and
planning, and it demonstrates the team’s skill in
selecting the right design option and in finding
the most cost effective construction method to
ensure completion of all three phases to time
and budget.
To meet the tough deadline set for
completion, the team chose in situ concrete for
the frame. No other option offered the same
scope for speed, economic cost and minimum
lead time.

2
General description of buildings Entrance to the
shopping
The client’s brief was to provide fully fitted-out piazza

buildings, including suspended ceilings, raised

access floors, VAV air-conditioning, decoration
and carpeting. Only the partitioning of the floor
zones and cabling for telephones and
computerization were left t& suit individual
tenants’ requirements.
Excluding the car park area, the develop-
ment has a gross floor area of 65 000 m2,
providing a net internal floor area of Service zones
42 000 m2. There are two levels of covered car
parks below ground and a two-level arcade
providing a retail area of 1200 m2 and office
and storage space of 1100 m2.
Plant, including transformer, refuse
disposal and provision for standby generators, is
located at basement, ground and roof levels.

Specifications
Flexibility is a keynote in the specifications of
the buildings, which provide:
• the ability to alter internal planning to give a
horizontal depth of floor space which can be
varied from 13.5 m to 18 m
• the ability to upgrade power supply and
cooling system to suit tenants’ requirements
• zoning of VAV air-conditioning system to
suit 1.5 m partition modules, with controlled
outlets and perimeter heating
• a digital energy management control system
to ensure low maintenance and running costs
• fully accessible raised floors throughout
office areas
• a comprehensive network of cable trays
allowing communication and data systems to
be routed throughout the property.
With these built-in features, each of the floors
provides higMy flexible and energy efficient
office accommodation capable of both
horizontal and vertical subdivision. The
building plan modules of 7.5 m and 6 m column
centres and 1.5 m for window and ceiling lines
make any office layout possible - from totally
cellular to fully open plan, or a combination of Raised access
both - with maximum space utilization. floor

Foundations and frame

The frames of the buildings are of reinforced
concrete, founded on piles. Floor to floqr height
is 3.6 m in the office areas, giving a nominal Dogital
control of
floor to ceiling height of 2.6 m. The floors are environmental
designed to carry an imposed load of 4 kN/m2 systems
plus 1 kNIm2 for partitions.

3
 Elevations and windows
All elevations have a combination of curtain
walling and granite cladding. The curtain
walling system consists of a doubleglazed
window with an outer pane of laminated mirror
glass and an inner pane of toughened clear glass.
A track system for window cleaning is laid
on the flat section of the roof.

In situ concrete was chosen because it was best

able to meet the requirements of speed,
economic cost and minimum lead time. No
fireproofing to the frame was necessary, so early
access for installation of services and internal
Groundwks
on Phase Three
fittings was possible. Even though the
masterplan of the development was evolving,
the disruption and extra costs brought about by
late changes were kept to a minimum by careful
planning and the inherent adaptability of in situ
construction, which allowed these changes to be
made quickly.
At an early stage the professional team
recognized the value of integrating construction
methodology into the design process for each
phase of the development. Immediately
following preliminary design approval, the
principal dimensions of structural members
were frozen so that the design of services could
be developed to identify all penetrations. The
building frame design was then refined to
incorporate the buildability features necessary
t o standardize, simplify and speed the
construction, without sacrificing architectural
appearance or structural integrity.
Lessons learnt in the early phases were
taken into account in the design of the later
phases. Construction techniques such as
kickerless construction, wide-bay construction,
and prefabrication were introduced to reduce
the construction time on Phase Three from the
original ten days to a seven-day floor cycle.
Substructure
The differing foundation loads in each phase
and the variation in substrata across the
development area meant that each phase had to
be assessed separately in the design and choice
of foundation construction.
On Phase One existing 520 mm diameter
(800 kN) driven piles were used. These piles had
supported the foundations of a warehouse
which previously occupied the site. Additional
new piles are of similar construction but with a
1200 kN working capacity.
O n P h a s e T w o , 6 0 0 mm diameter
Flat soffits for
freedom to continuous flight auger (CFA) piles, rated up to
route services 1800 kN working capacity, were constructed
under the main block and along the dock edge,
with precast shell piles supporting the podium
structures. The tower block of Phase Three is
founded on both 1200 mm and 1500 mm
diameter bored piles with working load
capacities of up to 8250 kN and 13 250 kN
respectively. The shopping arcade and below
ground parking structure are founded on
600 mm diameter CFA (2000 kN) piles, which
are also capable of resisting an uplift force of
600 kN.
Frame
To provide the optimum ceiling zone for
services, a flat solid slab was designed, 250 mm
thick, without drop panels over the columns. By
keeping column sizes generally uniform and
repeating the bay layout through successive
floors, it was possible to use full bay width flying
forms up to 17 m long by 6 m wide.
Formwork was removed three days after
concreting the floors, when the cube strength
had reached 20 N/mm*. At least two cubes
were cast for each pour and cured on the slab
under similar conditions. Back propping of the
slab was carried down through two lower floors.
Where bay widths differed below first floor
level, which made the floors non-typical,
traditional ‘quick strip’ formwork was used
instead of flying forms.
The size of the concrete deck pours varied Flying forms
between 60 and 180 m3, usually dividing the on Phase Three

floor area into four or five pours. A 35 N/mm*

pumped concrete mix was designed for the floor
slabs, typically containing 340 kg of OPC,
1000 kg of marine aggregate and 820 kg of sand
per m . A high performance plasticizer was
added to the mix to reduce water demand in
order to achieve higher early strength for
formwork striking, while at the same time Kickerless
maintaining good workability for ease of construction
using
placing. A 30 N/mm* mix was specified for shot-fired
most of the columns and core walls, and timber g u i d e s

generally the concrete was skipped into place

using the tower crane. The floor slab concrete
was pumped into place to release the tower
cranes for more critical activities, such as
moving formwork and reinforcement cages.
Where possible, reinforcement was
prefabricated on site to make maximum use of
crane handling and improve construction
efficiency. Delivery schedules were phased to
suit the construction programme and match the
floor cycle, thereby eliminating waste and site
storage space.
To save valuable time on the construction
cycle, kickerless construction was adopted and Column
fotvnwk in
column reinforcement prefabricated in double position ready
lifts. to concrete
 All stairwells were designed with identical
configurations, although handed, so that
formwork was interchangeable with minimal
modification. All lift cores were designed in the
same way. Preformed continuity strips cast into
the in situ walls of the lift cores and stairwells
provided a simple and cost effective connection
to the reinforcement in the floor slabs. Climbing
forms and slipform construction were seriously
considered for the cores, but the costs ruled
them out, so traditional large panel wall forms
were adopted. To speed the internal finishing
work within the structure, wet trades were
avoided by casting all vertical surfaces to strict
dimensional and surface tolerances so that they
could accept a direct finish with paint or tiles.
All staircases are of precast concrete. The
precast stair
flights
Chiding units were crane-handled into position in
panel on Phase
Two showing advance of the floor slab, making for safe and
support easy access during construction. They were
brackets connected to the in situ concrete landings by
seating them on the landing formwork and
casting the projecting reinforcement from the
stair flights into the landings.

Cladding
The curtain wall cladding units span vertically
from sill to sill and were fixed to brackets bolted
directly to the top surface of the concrete floor
slabs. It was a simple operation which proved to
be rapid and efficient. Height and verticality
were adjusted by levelling screws mounted on
the bracket supports.
To prevent damage to the cladding units
from falling debris during construction of the
frame, cladding work did not commence until
the frame was completed. This concept worked
well on Phases One and Two, with full storey
height panels being crane-lifted into position,
elevation by elevation. On Phase Three this
approach had to be modified in order to
overcome a delay in the basement works. The
cladding work commenced during frame
construction, and an overhead canopy was
installed to minimize risk of damage from falling
debris.
An innovative feature in the detailed design
was a secondary framework of structural grade
aluminium sections, bolted to the concrete
frame. These provide continuous horizontal
support to the projecting granite cladding
panels at the corners, the first floor spandrel
beams and the roof parapets. Thus the cladding
panels could be erected independently, either
before or after installation of the glazing units.
This approach helped to overcome the late
support system completion of the basement car park in Phase
for cladding
panels on Three, which delayed the start of the frame.
Phase Three Powered access cradles were used for fixing

6
glazing units and cladding panels to the gable
ends. Otherwise all installation and fixing work
was carried out from within the building,
eliminating the need for an exterior scaffold.
Selection of crane
Various criteria were considered in the selection
of tower cranes for each of the phases. These
included the economics, location and lifting
capacity, the ability to lift a one cubic metre skip
of concrete to the job extremity and to
manoeuvre the flying formwork system.
The footprint of Phase One was such that
one static crane could not serve the whole site
area, whilst two static cranes would have been
uneconomic. It was thus decided to erect one
crane and run it on rails, and to construct the
frame in two sections. The first section was
constructed with the crane travelling on rails
and the second with it locked in position.
For Phase Two, two tower cranes were
necessary to cover the site adequately, one on
the east and one on the west. The location of the Glazing units
being erected
east tower crane was subsequently reviewed so on Phase Three
that it could be used for the construction of
Phase Three.
Cranuge plan
Because of space restrictions and for Phases One,
regulations restricting the use of a crane close to Two and Three
the Docklands Light Railway, it was initially
decided to commence Phase Three with one
static crane on the west and to use climbing
forms or slipforms to construct all core walls.
Later modifications on the masterplan for Phase
Three, coupled with the decision to use
traditional wall forms instead of special forms
for the cores, dictated that a second tower
crane, mounted on rails, would best serve Phase
Three and the eastern half of Phase Two. A
self-erecting tower crane was brought in to
construct the shopping arcade.
Subcontractors
The philosophy adopted on South Quay was for
all works to be subcontracted, the majority
based on competitive tenders. In each case the
list of proposed tenderers was reduced,
following pretender interviews, to fewer than
five specialist contractors.
During the execution of their particular
work package, each subcontractor’s perfor-
mance was monitored for attitude, co-
operation, efficiency, safety, quality and claims.
Where possible, continuity of work was offered
to those who performed well, so that experience
gained on previous phases was used to
advantage, especially by the elimination of the
‘learning curve’. This developed a team
approach to the building of subsequent phases Tower cranes
and was a major factor in speeding up the used on Phase
construction. Three
 Winter working
Construction on the first two phases
commenced during the winter months. In both
1986 and 1987 the early months of the year were
particularly severe, with a combination of
subzero temperatures and heavy snowfall.
By planning ahead and gearing up for
winter working, delays caused by adverse
weather were minimized, and extensions of
construction time were avoided.
July 1987 -
The key measures taken were:
Phase One heating water in all ready mixed concrete
complete; covering exposed areas of freshly placed
Phase Two
frame
concrete with insulation blankets
construction heating the underside of formwork and
up to fifth floor draping tarpaulins around the perimeter to
retain the heat
monitoring the temperature of the immature
concrete and taking steps to maintain it at
the correct curing temperature
obtaining up-to-date bulletins on the
weather from the Meterological Office

The reasons that the project team preferred in

situ concrete construction for this prestigious
Docklands development can be summarized as:
0 Lead times - The lead times of processed
structural steel can be prohibitive compared
with the continuity of construction provided
by an in situ concrete structure.
0 Fire resistance - The in-built fire
resistance of concrete obviates the need for
the fire protection associated with structural
steel. This can be both cost and time
effective because there is no intermediate
activity to prevent commencement of
following trades after striking the formwork.
Also there is no applied fireproof coating to
be made good after the installation of
structural fixings for cladding and services.
a Achieving the specified tolerance in
construction - Accuracy checks conducted
at frequent intervals during construction
confirm that, in general, in situ frames are
within the specified tolerances and are
comparable with, if not superior to,
July 1988 -
Phase Two
structural steel frames, where deflection of
complete permanent decking and edge trims is
including particularly problematical.
shopping
arcade; Phase 0 Simple installation of fixings - Fixings to
Three frame an in situ concrete structure for cladding,
construction
up to lifts and building services can be cast in or
thirteenth floor bolted on. There is no need for moving

8
 connections to compensate for frame
flexibility, nor is there the complexity of
bracketry associated with flanged steelwork.
Monolithic construction - In situ
concrete frames are monolithic and
inherently rigid, whereas steel-framed
structures have the propensity to vibrate and
transmit structure-borne sound.
Reduced storey height - Flat slab in situ
construction can reduce storey heights and
thus save on the cost of external cladding.
Minimum site storage - In situ concrete
frame construction does not require a steel
laydown area.
Economic construction - The material
cost of in situ concrete is substantially less
than for structural steelwork.
South Quay Plaza is a well designed, well
constructed and efficiently engineered project,
built to budget and time, which exploits the
April 1 9 8 9 -
versatility of in situ concrete to achieve speed substantial
and economy in construction. completion of
Phase Three
 Development Manager Marples Developments Ltd
Project Manager Marples International Ltd
Architect Seifert Ltd
Structural Engineer Ove Arup & Partners
Mechanical and Parsons Brown
Electrical Engineer (London) Ltd
Quantity Surveyor Beard Dove & Partners
Main Contractor Marples International Ltd

YEAR I 1985 I 1986 1987 1988 1989

MONTH 11121234567891011121234567891011U1234567891011121234567

SUBSTRUCTURE

SUPERSTRUCTURE

BUILDING SERVICES

COMMISSION

EXTERNAL WORKS

Phase One
Phase Two
Phase Three
Gross floor area - m2
Net lettable area - m2
Number of storeys

M ?
Phase Phase Phase
One Two Three
Piling 5.87 12.70 31.05
Substructure 16.34 40.08 45.52
Frame 73.34 64.13
M&E 250.84 218.86
Cladding/roofing 228.93 184.73
Finishes 97.91 85.63
External works 48.69 12.50
Sundries 14.86 4.79
TOTAL 736.78 623.42

Start
Finish
Duration

10
 Phase One

.
n Y

Phase Two
18m
I- i

G.L.

Phase Three 19 m
!-I
I 7

10

9
8
 Granite

Phase Three

12
PROJECT PROFILE: SOUTH QUAY PLAZA

D.F.H. Bennett and I. Schnider

BRITISH CEMENT ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION 97.310 725.2(421)