Buildings (Commercial & Residential)

From the design of basements and foundations, to assessing the impact of basement or tunnel construction on adjacent buildings and utilities, GCG has extensive experience in geotechnical works associated with buildings. We have been involved in projects at all stages of the development process, from planning through to design and construction.

We routinely work with different structural engineers providing advice on the design of foundation systems and soil-structure interaction problems. GCG have worked on building projects ranging from large basements and foundations interacting with complex infrastructure, such as the Nova scheme in Victoria, to smaller residential basement developments in terraced properties, where site constraints can make for challenging conditions. We provide solutions for permanent and temporary works schemes that are cost-effective and minimise any adverse impact on adjacent properties and infrastructure.

Foundation solutions have been developed for constrained sites to take account of access and logistical restrictions, as well as underground congestion or buried obstructions. GCG have been at the forefront of the development of strategies for reuse of existing pile foundations; we have worked on a number of schemes in London and were represented on the steering committee for CIRIA C653 “Reuse of Foundations”.

Where projects are located in densely populated urban areas, or located close to sensitive infrastructure or buildings, the ground movements generated by the construction can affect surrounding assets. Understanding the impact of these ground movements can be critical to the success of a scheme, and GCG have extensive experience of undertaking impact assessments for a wide range of scenarios, from the relatively simple, such as pile installation, to assessing the impact of constructing complex basements. For this we select the appropriate approach to suit the complexity of the problem and the needs of the project, from empirical methods to numerical analysis. We have worked for both developers and for asset owners, for example LUL and Thames Water, to understand the impact of building developments on existing assets, and also the development of infrastructure construction on existing buildings.

Instrumentation and monitoring is a critical element of providing assurance with respect to ground movement during construction works and GCG have extensive experience of developing monitoring proposals, agreeing trigger levels with third parties and reviewing and interpreting monitoring data. We are knowledgeable in new methods of monitoring, which we incorporate into schemes when appropriate.