The Saffron Square development is located on Wellesley Road in Croydon, on a site that had lain fallow for over ten years. The opportunity was taken to design a landmark building, reflecting the location of the site as a ‘gateway’ to the town centre. At the heart of Saffron Square will be a new landscaped public square that will be flanked by cafes, bars and shops.
Berkeley Homes is developing a high quality mixed use development incorporating an iconic forty three storey tower and a series of linked buildings up to thirteen storeys. The scheme will comprise commercial uses on the ground floor and part first floor levels with over 700 residential apartments and penthouses on the upper floors.
RSA Geotechnics carried out an integrated geotechnical and geoenvironmental site investigation. The scope of the works included a preliminary desk study and risk assessment followed by an intrusive investigation involving a number of exploratory boreholes between thirty and fifty metres in depth, installation of combined groundwater and ground gas monitoring and sampling wells, excavation of trial pits in-situ and laboratory testing and associated assessment. Beneath a cover of made ground, the geology comprised River Terrace Gravels over London Clay and the Harwich Formation, underlain by the Lambeth Group, Thanet Sand, Bullhead Beds and White Chalk. Perched groundwater was encountered within the made ground, with sub-artesian groundwater within the London Clay, Harwich Formation and Lambeth Group. The findings of the investigations and assessments were detailed within an interpretative report, making recommendations relating to the geotechnical and environmental aspects of the project.
The buildings comprise in-situ reinforced concrete flat slab construction, with façades of alternating glazed and coloured panels, supported on a piled foundation solution. RSA Geotechnics prepared the remediation method statement and piling risk assessment for the project and have been providing validation of the remedial operations during the construction phase.