Our involvement comprised a desk study and ground investigation relating to the partial demolition of a building dating from 1886, which was constructed by the Great Northern Railway Company as part of the newly built Farringdon Station.

The investigation comprised a number of deep boreholes advanced from the existing single storey basement using a dismantlable cable percussion drilling rig and an extensive trial pitting investigation to determine the configuration of the foundations and retaining walls.

The results of the investigation were used to carry out a detailed settlement analysis, including an assessment of the re-use of a number of the existing foundations to enable the retention of the majority of the basement structure as part of the re-development of the site with a new six-storey office and retail building.

Further analysis was undertaken to determine the likely displacements along a brick retaining wall supporting the London Underground cutting running into Farringdon Station, considering both the demolition phase and construction phase. Subsequent to the analysis and a developed monitoring strategy, GEA was retained to review the results of monitoring of the retaining wall, which was carried out on a regular basis during the development. The project was completed in 2014 and awarded both The National & Regional RIBA awards 2016 and later the Civic Trust National winner 2017.