Commercial
24 NSC
Annual Review
One of the largest construction
projects to be undertaken in
central London this century
is currently under way on the
south bank of the River Thames.
Situated between the London Eye and
busy Waterloo Station, Southbank Place
covers an area of more than 20,000m2 and
consists of two commercial blocks, and six
residential towers along with new retail
units, restaurants and cafés, all of which
are located around the existing Shell Tower,
which will become one of the centerpieces
when the project completes in 2019.
The two new commercial office blocks,
known as One and Two Southbank Place
are both steel-framed structures, containing
11 floors and 17 floors respectively.
Apart from one residential tower, the two
commercial structures are the first buildings
to take shape on what is already a very busy
and logistically challenging site.
Faced with the usual traffic, noise and lack
of space all inner-city projects have to cope
with, Southbank Place will eventually have a
maximum workforce of 1,600 people.
The steel erection has been carried
out immediately behind the large-scale
groundworks programme, which is currently
progressing throughout the site.
Viewed from outside of the hoardings, the
project is a forest of tower cranes – there are
currently 16 cranes – needed to feed and lift
the various materials being used.
“There is very little room on-site and
certainly no room for materials to be stored,”
explains Canary Wharf Contractors
Project Manager Sam Hayward. “All of the
steelwork has to be delivered on a just-intime
basis and is being offloaded and erected
by tower crane.”
Severfield began its steel erection
programme in January. Work was able
to commence once the concrete formed
Steel promotes
South Bank
development
Two steel-framed commercial blocks will provide a central
element to a prestigious mixed-use development taking
shape on London’s south bank. Martin Cooper reports.
Raking columns span
the Bakerloo Line that
runs beneath the site
Visualisation of
the completed
Building Two