New Cross Gate Feasibility Study – Drainage Surveys

About the project

The New Cross Gate Site Office was built approx. 10 years ago and, while not life-expired, the original teams occupying the building (Thameslink & Hither Green Teams) no longer require it. There was a requirement for Network Rail’s own S&T and VARS Teams to have their own office space and mess facilities, but the existing building and its facilities were not deemed suitable for this use.

Network Rail requested that Enable Design (formerly known as Equate Design) survey the existing building and surrounding infrastructure. They further requested that we undertake a feasibility study and develop it through to confirmation of a single concept, considering options for the internal layout –so that the S&T and the VARS Teams could have their own independent office space and facilities –as well as looking at the external layout, to ensure the required storage and parking was available to those teams. Enable Design was asked to identify opportunities for efficiencies within this work, such as elements that could be reused, or refurbished.

The challenge

There were two main challenges to consider with these works:

• The more cost-effective solution was not to alter the existing building, but to devise a way of accommodating all the client requirements within the project’s remit into the building.As the building was still occupied, Enable Design had to provide a solution that would cause minimal disruption to the Network Rail teams using it.

The solution

Working closely with the Network Rail team and other internal stakeholders, Enable Design assisted with reviewing the initial requirements. We then worked with Network Rail to arrive at a more comprehensive set of requirements which would enable the feasibility study to be undertaken in a more efficient manner. Enable Design managed both to overcome the challenges through the clever use of spatial planning and of office furniture, and to overhaul the full internal and external layouts completely, while causing minimal disruption to the teams occupying the building.

The Team

• Engineering Manager
• Design Manager
• Survey Engineers
• Civil Engineers

The deliverables

• Production of a measured survey of the internal and external layouts
• Full drainage survey, with CCTV survey of the drainage network in and around the existing building and car park
• Condition survey of the current building
• Structural survey of the current building
• Utilities survey of the current building and surrounding infrastructure
• Topographical survey of the current building and surrounding infrastructure