Barking Riverside

This development is the largest scheme in which we have involvement, comprising a mixed use development of 10,800 homes, 65,000 m² of commercial / retail space, a leisure centre, community centre, and 7 new schools spread over 443 acres and forming part of the wider Thames Gateway re-development zone.   To date we have delivered nearly residential 2,000 units in high quality deliveries that have resulted in minimal site queries.

Structures that we have designed for this development range from two and three storey houses to 8 storey apartment blocks overlying large basement structures.  The scheme includes a massive investment in infrastructure in advance of each stage of the works. 

Basement car parks were designed in 8 of the 10 sites we’ve done to date, one of which consisted of 250m of continuous basement with no movement joints.   All basement constructions have been ‘open dig’, requiring no temporary works, and waterproofing has been kept to a minimum.

Superstructure designs include both load bearing masonry and RC frames.  House types are all bespoke, as are the apartment blocks, and require a great deal of attention to detail.  The design is further complicated in the Stage 1 sites by the use of concrete rather than clay bricks on the external leaf, which demands careful consideration of movement joint and bed joint reinforcement detailing.

Foundations for the buildings on all sites developed to date are based on Driven Cast In-Situ (DCIS) piles, which provide better capacity than CFA piles, and which result in no arisings.  Alternative foundation types were considered but were discounted because of the ongoing settlement anticipated from significant ground raising across the development, despite forced consolidation.  The piles are driven down to gravels at between 10 and 15m below ground level. 

Retaining walls that from part of the external works are all supported on fill based on a value engineering outcome that was agreed with the NHBC following tests undertaken on site. A combination of reinforced masonry and reinforced concrete walls are present, but we have also designed gabion walls and criblock retaining walls with associated foundations for external works on three of the land parcels.

Barking Riverside is the result of a two-year design process led by the leading architecture and urban design practice, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands. The design has also undergone rigorous scrutiny from stakeholders including; the Greater London Authority (GLA), London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council, Transport for London (TfL) and local residents.

The project is committed to impacting positively on the local community, which is why in 2018 we became a client partner of the Considerate Constructors scheme. As a Client Partner, we have made a commitment to improving the image of construction, with all our approved contractors expected to comply with the Scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice.

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