The development comprised the construction of a new two storey classroom and double height hall extension located between two existing buildings with associated external works.

The building comprised a simply supported steel frame with precast concrete floors and a vaulted cut roof structure with traditional mass fill concrete foundations. Vertical cross bracing was introduced to provide lateral stability with the external cavity masonry panels being tied to the steel frames for enhanced lateral stability.

The existing foundations to the adjacent buildings were identified at an early stage to be very shallow. Where our new building was situated, between the existing buildings, the construction of any new foundations would require the existing foundations to be underpinned which would have been a costly exercise and would have made the project uneconomical.

In order to overcome this issue we adopted a series of steel beams at foundation level which were supported on reinforced strip foundations set away from the existing foundations and cantilevered out to support the steel frame at the interface of the existing/proposed structures.

To find out more about our Structural Engineering projects, go to https://jppnew.backlightdev.co.uk/structuralengineering/