Beckley Court, Plymouth
Red Rock have been involved in the ground investigations and assessments of some of the tallest buildings in the South West.
Red Rock undertook the ground investigations and provided foundation designs for the new 24 storey student accommodation building in Plymouth. Investigations by rotary coring were undertaken both prior and after demolition of the former YMCA building to establish the feasibility of a pad foundation solution for this landmark building.
In addition to the ground investigations, Red Rock's expertise in rock engineering and foundation design was used to assist the structural engineer in establishing net safe bearing pressures for the weak transversely isotropic Saltash Formation slates. Both analytical and numerical analyses were undertaken to provide an optimal design for the various pad dimensions that took account of the high load inclinations and eccentricities resulting from dynamic wind forces.
A key part of the design was validation of the encountered ground conditions, and Red Rock provided construction support in the form of site inspections and verification of the rock quality exposed in the foundation excavations.
In addition to Beckley Court, Red Rock in partnership with the structural engineers, have developed shallow foundation solutions for many larger buildings that would typically require piling resulting in considerable cost savings. An area of particular expertise is foundations over karst limestone.
Other recent high-rise and tall building projects include:
Azure, Plymouth • Southernhay, Exeter • Sutton Harbour, Plymouth • Hoe Centre, Plymouth • Back of Walls, Southampton • Vincents Walk, Southampton • Alma Vale, Bristol
