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Nova Place is part of the Nova Victoria scheme, located in the heart of Victoria between Buckingham Palace Road, Bressenden Place and Victoria Street. Nova Place is the third and final phase of the development, consisting of two different buildings, Nova Place North and Nova Place South. Nova Place North consists of a 7 storeys office space and library/flexible space with a retail and entrance space at ground floor and a single level basement to the west. Nova Place South consists of a 6 storeys office space and retail and entrance space at ground floor. A single level basement is positioned underneath the footprint of the building to the south.

Key technical challenges

The site is very congested with sub-surface infrastructure. There are two Thames Water (TW) assets running in the north-south direction, namely the King’s Scholars’ Pond Sewer (KSPS) and the relatively deeper Western Deep Sewer (WDS). Also, development is located to the north and west of Victoria Palace Theatre, a Grade II listed building built in 1911.

Additionally, London Underground Limited (LUL) assets include the Victoria Line platform and tunnels and the Paid Area Link (PAL) and the North Ticket Hall (NTH) forming part of the Victoria Station Upgrade Works (VSU).

Furthermore, all infrastructure underneath the site, development is located immediately to the north and the east of Victoria Palace Theatre, a Grade II listed building built in 1911.

Lessons Learnt

Nova East is an excellent example of unlocking the opportunity offered by land in the heart of London in a heavily constrained environment. There are many complexities for the site, including its proximity to major infrastructure that enables the operation of the London Underground. It is thus a high-risk project where collaboration is key allowing for foundation in close proximity and on top of LUL and TW assets.
Modern method of construction was presented in order to take advantage of regular shape and column grid in Nova Place north. Timber frame with timber columns and CLT floors and beams have been proposed.

Key technical challenges

The existing Victoria Line platform tunnels, the VSU works, the DRS, the NTH, the KSPS, and the WDS present significant constraints to the provision of foundations and the weight of buildings that can be placed over these structures.

The pile arrangement has been configured to suit the third-party assets and minimize the impact of the Nova Place foundations on the LUL and TW infrastructure. Close collaboration with LUL allowed installation of raft slab for Nova Place basement on top of LUL asset where piles could not be accommodated due to unavailable space. Nova Place south is partly built adjacent and on top of NHT Vent core. Vibration isolation bearings are proposed where structure sits on top of LUL assets in order to minimize any vibration transferred from LUL tunnels.

RBG, along with GCG, carried out an Impact assessment on LUL and TW assets to understand predicted movements in assets both during construction and in long term.

Sustainability

To reduce embodied carbon and by taking advantage of regular shape and column grid in Nova Place North, different modern method of construction were considered at early stage. Timber frame with timber columns and CLT floors and beams have been proposed in Nova Place North superstructure.
For concrete elements, considerable cement replacements have been proposed with up to 75% GGBS replacement in thick elements.

Project Metrics

Building Metrics:
Total GIA area 6,100m2
7 levels above ground in Nova Place north and 6 level in Nova Place south.
1 level of basement.
Sectors:
Commercial

Project Metrics

Client:
Landsec
Architect:
Lynch Architects
Robert Bird Group Services:
Civil Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Structural Engineering