Kelway House, North End Road, Fulham
Faithorn Farrell Timms was initially commissioned by Shepherds Bush Housing Association to administer the demolition of an existing 1960s accommodation block on this site.
The scheme now includes 50 new build social housing units for rent and shared ownership, together with four retail units at ground floor level.
Tenders were sought on both a quality and price basis, and we enabled our client to consider ideas for innovation by which prospective contractors additionally submit their alternative proposals to those detailed within the Employer's Requirements.
Wates was selected as the preferred contractor. Working closely with them and our client, we were able to agree with the Local Authority Planning Department that a mezzanine floor could be included in some of the retail units. It was also possible to achieve four additional flats within the existing scheme layout. Construction work started on site in March 2006. The first challenge was to ensure the safe demolition of the existing 1960s buildings. This required particular care as they were immediately adjacent to a number of other medium rise blocks, which remained in occupation during the entire process.
Amongst the other difficulties were the ground conditions, where deep pile foundations have been required to support the main structures. The project remains on course for completion, within a 24-month programme and a construction budget of £9.49m.
Although it requires a review of the incoming services to the site, in order to ensure that the necessary service capacity can be provided, we are currently undertaking studies to access whether the four retail units can be adapted to accommodate a Tesco Express.