Chesterfield House
Park Lane, Wembley, London, UK
Chesterfield House
Basement reuse and extension beside railway line

HUB’s Chesterfield House development — now known as Uncle — occupies a brownfield site adjacent to a main railway line. Its three-part high rise structure incorporates the partial re-use and extension of an existing basement.

The concrete frame complex consists of the 26-level South Tower, 21-level North Tower and an eight-level mid section, together accommodating 239 PRS residential units. Two main cores provide stability, and commercial space, plant and bike storage are housed in the single-level basement. Further commercial spaces and plant are at ground level.

Structural drawings were unavailable for the earlier building, so the scale of below-ground obstructions was unknown. Existing basement walls were propped and the floor slab removed, revealing no previous piling. The new basement is shallower and extends further to the rear, and the new frame is founded on 600mm diameter bored piles. We negotiated technical approvals from Network Rail for construction to their boundary.

The brick-clad towers step back twice in plan as they rise, providing roof terraces. Transfer structures are limited to the first and second floors to minimise increases in floor depths that would reduce ceiling heights in the residential zones.

We built a relationship with Network Rail through this project, and developed an asset protection process that we have applied successfully to many other schemes. All technical structural, civil and geotechnical proposals were agreed with Network Rail, managing expectations along the way to ensure project on-time construction and delivery.

client
HUB
architect
MaccreanorLavington
landscape/public realm
Ubu Design
value
£60m
completion
2021
gross internal area
24,541 sq m
embodied structural carbon
357kg CO2e/sq m

services

Structural engineering
Civil engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Asset protection
CMT

sectors

High-rise structures
Residential

site photos : Henry Construction, MaccreanorLavington
models + completion photos : Whitby Wood