Monday July 22, 2024
Our whitepaper detailing the innovative temporary works employed in the ‘retrofirst’ refurbishment of The Acre, has been awarded the Coopers Hill War Memorial Prize, which will be celebrated at ICE Publishing Awards ceremony in October.
The ICE Publishing Awards celebrate authors from both industry and academia who have produced work judged by their peers to be of exceptional quality and benefit to the civil engineering, construction and materials science community.
The aim of the paper was to show how innovation in temporary works and construction engineering plays a key role enabling the preserving the embodied carbon of existing structures. It also stands as a testament to our commitment to furthering knowledge and best practice within our industry.
Our in-house construction engineering team assumed a consultancy role with the client team from the earliest stage of their project, affording the opportunity to demonstrate a high value solution characterised by substantial programme savings and exceptional carbon reductions.
Project Overview: The Acre
The Acre is a ‘retrofirst’ refurbishment of a 1980s office building in central London, which saw an impressive 80% of the original structure being reused, requiring significant construction engineering solutions.
A critical aspect of the project was the temporary division of the ten-storey building into two independent structures during the demolition, prior to reconstruction of linking units. The award-winning whitepaper describes how this was achieved using just four props to create a temporary stability system for the building while roof mounted tower cranes serviced the site.
Innovations in Temporary Works
The paper, titled “Sustainable Temporary Works at The Acre: Reducing Carbon Footprint through Innovation,” outlines the groundbreaking methodologies that led to fewer temporary elements being required than initially conceived. Key innovations include:
- Optimised Prop Design: Developing the right concept design and then utilising advanced engineering techniques to design props that provided necessary stability with minimal material use.
- Material Reuse: Incorporating our reusable temporary systems alongside the permanent structure reduced the intensity of new materials by 88% from the reference scheme.
- Strategic Planning: Implementing a carefully phased approach which delivered safe, technically sound and programme efficient delivery whilst also reducing the carbon impact of the works.
- Carbon Savings and Environmental Impact: Demonstrating significant reductions in emissions by preserving the embodied carbon of the original structure resulted in 588,962kg reduction of steel equivalent to the annual growth of 530 football pitches of forest, or 130% the size of the city of London
James Simpson, Construction Engineering Director at McGee, “I’m delighted that the approach our team brings to complex engineering projects has been recognised with this award. We hope the insights and recommendations from our paper help influence future projects, further encouraging the significant role and contribution innovative temporary works practices can play; fostering more sustainable approaches in construction and engineering.”
We would like to acknowledge the support and collaboration of Arup’s permanent works team, their independent checking team and the wider project team including our client, Northwood Investors; temporary works fabricator Thirsk, architect, Gensler; structural engineer Arup; development director Platform; and cost consultant Core 5.
The award will be celebrated at the ICE Awards Ceremony in October 2024, and the winning paper will be made free to read on the ICE Virtual Library.