KEY FACTS

CLIENT

Arena Central Dev / Galliford Try

YEAR COMPLETED

2018

BUILD TYPE

New Build

SERVICES PROVIDED

Building Information Modelling (BIM)
Acoustics - Noise - Vibration
Environmental Reporting
Environmental Impact Assessment Co-ordination
Ground Gas and Vapour Investigation
Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS)
Utilities
Structural Engineering
Civil Engineering
Topographical Surveying
Foundation Design

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BWB Consulting has delivered multi-disciplinary engineering and environmental services for HSBC's new headquarters in Birmingham city centre. The 210,000 sq ft building forms the first phase of the 9.2 acre Arena Central complex and will see the transfer of the bank's retail headquarters from London to the Midlands.

The structure is a high quality 11-story office building with 3 levels of basement car parking and a roof level plant deck. The Phase 1 infrastructure works for Arena Central forms the public space at the centre of the site, which also provides vehicular access to the HSBC car park via an access ramp off bridge street through the basement car park below Bank Court.

BWB has played a key role in this high-profile project, providing professional engineering services for structural and civil design, surveying and demolition together with Network Rail and highway negotiations. BWB's engineering input was recognised with a Commendation at the IStructE Midland Counties Regional Group awards in 2017.

Key Challenges

BWB undertook the Network Rail negotiations to agree the structural design philosophy to bridge over the Monument Lane rail tunnel to the north east corner of the site. It was accepted, following a lengthy design review and negotiation process, that there was no increased load transfer onto the Network Rail asset which would allow the construction to proceed with no structural implications on the existing tunnel. This was monitored using movement and vibration sensors throughout construction.

As part of the overall development, BWB led highway negotiations for the construction of a new substation below the new public staircase leading from Alpha Plaza to Broad Street. We provided structural calculations to demonstrate that existing highway structures were neither surcharged nor undermined as a result of the new construction works.

A number of constraints surround the site which had to be taken into consideration by our teams including a retained basement under Alpha Tower, the historic Municiple Bank at 301 Broad Street and listed vents to Alpha Plaza.

KEY CONTACTS