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P
P

R
R

O
O

J E
F I

C
L

T
E

97.313
First published 1990
ISBN 0 7210 1388 0
Price Group C
British Cement Association 1990

Published by the British Cement Association on behalf of

the industry sponsors of the Reinforced Concrete Campaign.
British Cement Association
Wexham Springs, Slough 5L3 6PL
Telephone Fulmer (0753) 662727
Fax (0753)660399 Telex 848352

All advice or information from the British Cement Association is intended for those who will evaluate the significance and limitation of its contents and take responsibility
for its use and application. No liability (including that for negligence) for any loss resulting from such advice or information is accepted. Readers should note that all BCA
publications are subject to revision from time to time and should therefore ensure that they are in possession of the latest version.

D.F.H. Bennett
BSc, MSc CEng, MICE

and
R.W. Gordon
BSc (Eng), ACGI, DIC, CEng, MICE

FOREWORD
This publication was commissioned by the
Reinforced Concrete Campaign Group.
The Group was set up in 1988 to run a
promotional campaign aimed at providing
better knowledge and understanding of
concrete design and building technology.
Its members are Sheerness Steel plc,
Allied Steel and Wire Limited and the
British Reinforcement Manufacturers
Association, representing the major
suppliers of reinforcing steel in the UK,
and the British Cement Association,
representing the major manufacturers of
Portland cement in the UK.
David Bennett is a Senior Engineer in
the Marketing Division of the British
Cement Association.
Bob Gordon was Chief Structural
Engineer for Bovis-Schal on all phases of
the Broadgate development.

CONTENTS

THE PROJECT

BUILDING
SPECIFICATION

Space provisions
Structure
Cladding
Services
Building management system

3
3
4
4
4

DESIGN

Architecture
Frame
Services

4
5
5

CONSTRUCTION

Substructure
Frame
Precast cladding

6
7
9

SPEED WITH
BUILT-IN QUALITY

APPENDIX

11
Project details

12

THE PROJECT

Plan of the
Broadgate
development

Broadgate, a site of some 29 acres, is located at

Liverpool Street, one of the busiest transport interchanges in the City of London, and within walking
distance of all the main City institutions.
The entire development - comprising 14 separate
buildings plus extensive retail and leisure facilities will provide up to 3.5 million sq ft of net office space
when completed in 1992.
Since 1985, over 2 million sq ft has been
constructed at this site, ranking Broadgate as the
fastest commercial construction project in the UK and probably the world.
One of the 14 buildings within Broadgate is
Broadwalk House, situated on the extreme northern
corner of the site, bounded by Appold Street to the
west, Worship Street to the north, and Primrose
Street to the south.
Broadwalk House is not a large building by
comparison with the rest of the development: its
eight storeys, two basements and 33 500 m2 floor
area represents about seven per cent of the total
development. But whatever it may lack in scale is
more than made up for by the sheer speed, quality
and economy of its construction. From start on site,
it took just 20 months to hand over the building to
the client. The frame itself was topped out in 25
weeks, reinforcing the claim that Broadwalk House
is the most successful construction project within the
Broadgate development.
Designed in reinforced concrete by a team of
professionals who have fully exploited concretes
versatility in order to obtain aesthetic appeal
combined with buildability, Broadwalk House can
be said to have set standards for the rest of the
industry to follow.

BUILDING SPECIFICATION

Broadwalk House under

construction - from Primrose Street

To appreciate the significance of the Broadgate

development and the context of Broadwalk House, it
is necessary to reflect on what the office building
market was like before the explosion of information
technology in the early 1980s. The City was
characterized by small buildings, on tight sites which
were, almost without exception, designed from the
outside in, rather than from the needs of the
occupants. The supply of office space was so strictly
regulated by planners and developers that tenants
had come to accept any space, however
inconvenient, and at any price, provided that they
could get their hands on it. The discrepancy in

quality between office space in London and that

enjoyed in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, was
enormous.
The Broadgate buildings are the end-product of a
studied and deliberate long-term consultation
between the developers and building end-users, to
create buildings that work.
Broadwalk House, like other buildings in the
Broadgate development, offers the tenant a choice of
shell and core or base building. Shell and core
consists of the building envelope with lifts, staircases,
main services, toilets, reception lobbies, etc. The
tenant, before occupation, fits out the building
with ductwork, IT cabling, ceilings and raised floors.
With the base building alternative, the building is
already equipped with primary and secondary
ductwork, false ceilings and raised floors.
With its large structural bay layouts and design
innovation, Broadwalk House provides end-users
with a building that is adaptable to their various
requirements.
The principal features of the building are listed
below.
Ground-floor and mezzanine accommodation
providing both office and retail space.
Two levels of trading floors, plus four levels of
office space.
A two-level basement car park.
Provision of six passenger lifts from ground to
roof, with two escalators from ground to second
floor to serve the trading floor areas.
Full air-conditioning with zoning options to serve
discrete sections of a floor.
Provision for computer, telephone and power
requirements to meet the increasing demands of
information technology.
Two central atria to admit more natural light
which creates a better working environment.

Typical
sixth-floor office
interior

Space provisions
The clear internal dimensions from finished floor
level to underside of ceiling are 2.74 m for typical
office areas and 3.05 m for trading floors. Generally,
the structural span between columns is 9 x 9 m and
9 x 12 m.
The gross floor area of the building is 33 500 m2
(typically 3700 m2 per floor), providing a usable area
of 27 000 m2.

Structure
The foundations consist of large-diameter bored
piles of in situ concrete, with underreaming.
Columns, perimeter beams and small areas of

Typical office
floor section
showing services

non-typical bays are of in situ construction. The

floors are of the composite reinforced concrete
ribbed type, with precast beams spanning up to 12 m
onto in situ spine beams. They have been designed
to carry an imposed load of 3.85 kN/m2, plus
1.85 kN/m2 for services.
Interior of
sixth-floor turret
room

Cladding
The architectural character of the building highlights
the use of traditional materials in a clear, modern,
functional way. The external cladding is a
combination of high-quality architecturally finished
precast concrete and a curtain walling system. All
windows are double-glazed and framed with
aluminium mullions.

Services

Bay window
detail on Appold
Street

A variable air volume air-conditioning system is

supplied with air-handling plant on each floor.
Sprinkler and fire alarms are operated by the
advanced building management system.
There are six high-speed, 21-person passenger
lifts, three executive/fire lifts, and a separate goods
lift to all floors. A twin escalator serves the ground,
mezzanine and the two trading floors.
Additional generator capacity, service facility,
loading bay and storage areas have been provided.

Building management system

The building management and control system is
micro-processor based, capable of operating,
monitoring and controlling equipment from a
remote location. The system has the capacity and
flexibility to service the building for a normal 5-day
or 24 hour, 7-day week, or any other variation.

DESIGN
Architecture
The architectural master plan of Broadgate was
developed in two distinct phases. The early phase on
Finsbury Avenue comprised four buildings centred
around Broadgate Circle. The design of the facades using reticulated granite panels - provides a visual
symmetry to the buildings, emphasizing harmony
and uniformity.
In direct contrast to this, the ten buildings in the
later Bishopsgate phase have been designed to give
each one a distinctive architectural style, in order to
enhance corporate image and tenant identity. These
buildings are faced mainly in granite cladding panels,
with the exception of Broadwalk House.
The location of Broadwalk House, on an island
site and separated from the rest of the Bishopgate

buildings by Primrose Street, presented an

opportunity to create something different from the
granite facades of the other buildings.
The choice of an exterior cladding, using
pigmented precast concrete panels to simulate
terracotta, links the building well with the essential
character of the area. The warm colour of the
cladding, the light and shade of the panel relief, the
bay windows profiles, the sweep of the street level
arcade with its row of elegant globes and turreted
corner detail, create a focal point on Appold Street.
All public areas within the building are finished
to the highest quality: the entrance lobby walls
trimmed in cherry wood with hardwood veneer
panelling, the floors paved with polished stone, and
the thoroughfares lit by beautifully crafted wallmounted light fixtures, all maintain the hallmark of
quality throughout.
Two atria, clad in buff-coloured drywall panels
with painted timber battens, bring natural light into
the heart of the building, creating a pleasant working
environment and providing visual coherence.

Frame
The design of the frame of Broadwalk House was
finalized only after careful appraisal of all the options
- reinforced concrete, structural steel and prestressed concrete.
Comparative costings and construction times
were analysed for each option, using data from
previous projects on Broadgate and budget advice
from specialist contractors. These comparisons
showed conclusively that reinforced concrete was the
best buy. It was cheaper than steel by as much as
200/o, and faster to construct.
A ribbed-slab design was chosen for the floors,
with a wide-rib section, in order to maintain an
economical construction depth of 610 mm. The
ribs, spaced at 3.0 m intervals, span three bays - two
of 12.0 m and one of 9.0 m - onto the central spine
beams and perimeter beams, each of which span 9.0 m.
The lateral stability of the frame was checked by
analysing the deflections and sway of a threedimensional computer model of the structure. The
inherent stiffness of the frame eliminated the need
for shear walls, so enabling fast and economic
construction.

Bringing natural
light into the
building

The central
atrium canopy

Services
Whilst secondary service ductwork could have been
positioned in the voided areas between ribs, it would
have imposed a limitation on flexibility for end-user
fitting out. Consequently all ductwork was zoned
below soffit level.

Entrance lobby

CONSTRUCTION
A number of construction features were incorporated into the design of the structure to take
account of site constraints, speed of erection, labour
availability, and competitive prices.
For the frame and substructure the fast-build
method was used - this incorporated the following
features.
Design of one column/one pile to eliminate
construction of large pile caps.
Construction of the ground floor slab ahead of the
basement to accelerate the frame.
Elimination of shear walls in order to speed floor
cycle time.
Prefabrication of floors was facilitated by
standardization of the building grid and the column
sizes. Specification clauses were drafted to permit
large-area pours and the early removal of soffit
falsework to aid rapid construction techniques.
To ensure that quality was built into the project,
each trade contractor bidding for work was required
to submit a quality plan. This ensured that the
procedures for achieving quality were set down
correctly and that the resources were provided for
the work to be carried out effectively.

Constructing the
main piles

Substructure

Basement,
showing the
intermediate
columns and the
ground-floor
soffit

The bulk excavation for the substructure followed

the installation of the contiguous bored-pile,
earth-retaining system. To simplify the basement
waterproofing and to speed retaining wall
construction, the position of the pile wall was kept
about one metre away from the basement retaining
wall line.
Using two rigs, 320 contiguous bored piles were
constructed at a peak rate of 14 piles a day. The piles
were 750 mm in diameter and generally 11.5 m deep
with temporary casing taken through fill and the 4 m
gravel layer overlying the London clay.
Main piling commenced as soon as there was
sufficient space within the excavation for a rig to be
installed. An access ramp was maintained at all times
from ground level to excavation level, for concreting
trucks and spoil lorries. The piling layout followed
the column grid line, i.e. 12.0 x 9.0 m, except for
the core areas which had traditional pile groups and
pile caps. A total of 120 main piles were constructed
using standard boring techniques, and founded
approximately 13.5 m below basement level.
Depending on the pile size, from two to five piles per
day were completed with each rig. The pile loadings
ranged from 12 500 kN to 13 350 kN, and the piles

varied in size from 750 mm diameter plain shafted,

to 750, 1050 and 1200 mm underreamed piles, with
the largest being 1500 mm in diameter with a
4500 mm underream
The concrete used in all piles had a specified
characteristic strength of 35 N/mm2 at 28 days, and
a slump of 125 mm. Following pile construction,
small pile caps were formed to provide a transition
zone between the pile and the column. The individual pile caps ensured that column starter bars could
be located accurately to grid, thus overcoming the
positional variation associated with pile construction.
The basement construction comprised two floors
- a basement and intermediate level - and a
perimeter retaining wall. To reduce overall excavation depth, the intermediate basement floor was
designed as an in situ flat slab. Additional columns
were introduced in the basement, in order to reduce
spans and minimize the slab depth.
Internal columns, on the conventional grid
layout, and perimeter retaining walls were cast up to
ground floor, bypassing the intermediate floor, to
allow an early start on the frame. Reinforcement
couplers were cast into the columns and continuity
strips incorporated in the retaining walls to cater for
subsequent connection to the intermediate slab reinforcement.
When the floors of the frame were sufficiently
advanced and the falsework support to the ground
floor slab removed, the intermediate basement slab
was constructed using conventional formwork.

Constructing the
double-storey
height columns

Frame
During the eight-week tender period for the frame
contract, the frame was changed from in situ to
composite in situ and precast concrete.
This change was made at the
request of the trade
contractor because the space
outside the site boundary
was too restricted to fly large
table forms.
The composite floor slab
consisted of precast soffit
slabs and precast rib beams
which spanned 12 m
between the in situ spine and
edge beams. The precast elements
were structurally tied together with an in situ
concrete topping.
The availability of a disused goods yard near the
site made it feasible and economic to set up a

Floor
construction
elements

Precast rib beams

in position on the
third floor

Compacting in
situ concrete with
a vibrating screed
rail

An adjustable
column form

precasting operation more or less on the spot. An

area of 66 x 45 m within the goods yard was
allocated for the prefabrication of reinforcement
cages, two precast production bays and a storage area
for curing and handling the precast rib beams.
In the time taken for the substructure to reach
the ground floor, precast production was in full
swing, with sufficient rib beams stockpiled to meet
programme requirements.
The general building sequence commenced with
column construction followed by the erection of
small table forms for the in situ spine beams and
perimeter beams. After positioning the prefabricated
reinforcement cage for the right-hand perimeter
beam and closing up the side forms, the precast rib
beams for the right-hand bay were then cranehandled into position. This procedure was repeated
in a similar way for the spine beams and rib beams
for the centre and left-hand spans. Finally, the leftside perimeter beam cage was positioned and side
forms closed.
Precast soffit slabs - 55 mm or 75 mm thick
spanning 2.4 m with their lattice girder
reinforcement - were craned into position to span
between the ribs. The top layer of reinforcement was
laid and the lapping bars for the spine beams fixed
over the column positions.
Working in a north to south direction this
procedure was repeated across the building from bay
to bay. Concreting commenced once an area of
around 1500 m2 was ready - equivalent to 200 m3 of
concrete - dividing the slab into four pours.
The contractor elected to use a C50 grade
concrete for all columns and floors, in order to
obtain high early strength and so allow early removal
of falsework. A pump mix was designed, with a
cement content of 380 kg/m3, giving a 48 hour
strength of 25 N/mm2 - the minimum safe strength
for falsework removal. Back-propping was necessary,
after removal of falsework, and carried down
through three floors.
One of the contributory factors in achieving a
fast rate of construction was the use of the two static
Schwing concrete pumps with long-reaching
booms. Mounted on permanent supports within the
building and rising up level by level with the floor
construction, the pumps reduced quite dramatically
the time taken to place the 200 m3 of concrete for
each pour area. With the use of vibrating screeds of
up to 10 m spans, the deck area was compacted and
finished in a very short time with the minimum of
labour.

Fast column. construction was achieved using

prefabricated adjustable column forms which
incorporated a built-in concrete platform and access
ladder. These adjustable forms covered the full range
of column sizes required for the project. Kickerless
construction was adopted and helped to reduce the
overall construction time.
To minimize the lead time for reinforcement
supply, the prefabrication of beam cages and column
cages was carried out on site.
Staircases were of precast concrete supported by
dwarf in situ walls located either side of half landings.
Construction of staircases progressed one floor
behind the frame, ensuring safe and easy access and
obviating the need for external access platforms.
Three cranes were provided for the frame
construction and the cladding erection. One was
located centrally, with a 60 m boom capable of lifting
6 tonnes and reaching all parts of the site. Two
smaller cranes, with reaches of 30 m and 35 m, were
located within the building footprint, but at opposite
ends. Thus there were always two cranes available to
service any area of the construction.
Overall, approximately 13 000 m3 of concrete
was placed and 6 miles of precast rib beams used in
the construction of the frame. The average construction output was just short of 3000 m2 per week,
peaking at 4000 m2. This was achieved at the end of
March 1988. Thereafter a rate of 3500 m2 per week
was maintained until the frame was topped out.

Precast cladding
An important consideration in letting the cladding
contract was the ability of the cladding contractor to
undertake the design, manufacture and pre-assembly
of the precast concrete cladding panels and window
units, in addition to their erection. Early in the
design stage the architect met the cladding
contractor to standardize and simplify the panel
design, for efficient precast production. Only a few
modifications to the original details of the precast
profiles were made. These were to ease removal of
the panels from their moulds by adjusting the panel
profiles to give 2.50 taper and by adopting rounded
corners to eliminate sharp arrises.
The terracotta colour of the panels was achieved
by using a mixture of 2.5% yellow and a 2.5% red
pigment by weight, blended with a white cement
mortar. The precast panels, of grade C45 concrete,
were lifted out of their moulds on achieving
20 N/mm2 strength. They were air-cured for two
weeks, under cover, in a specially designated curing
bay protected from the weather. This allowed the

Panels fitted with

windows,
awaiting
transportation

Moulds for
precasting the
curved panels

Spandrel panel
fixing assembly

Window panel
fixing assembly

10

panels to dry slowly, minimizing efflorescence

problems and maintaining uniformity of the
pigmented colour. During this time, the panels were
lightly sand-blasted to remove surface laitance.
Following the two-week curing period the aluminium window units were installed in the panels,
prior to their transportation to site on lorry-mounted
trailers. Once on site the panels were craned off the
trailers directly into their final position.
The panels were separated into 1 m high spandrel
units and 3.6 m high window elevation units. The
panel lengths varied from 3 m to 6 m, with the
occasional 9 m spandrel unit, to suit the trailer length
and to match the perimeter column grid. In addition
to the bay window panel elements and spandrel
units, there were flat window panels, column panels
and special curved panels for the turreted corner.
The precast panel loads were transferred to the
structural frame through stainless steel hangers
attached to the spandrel units, carrying the spandrel
unit and the window elevation panel directly above.
Due to the slenderness of the panel sections,
lateral restraint anchors were provided at the four
corners of each panel, with an additional central
restraint for panels of 6 m or more in length.
Spandrel units were hung approximately in position
by the crane to allow the stainless steel hangers to be
located onto the brackets on the perimeter beam.
The four corner restraint anchors were then fixed
before the crane was released to fetch the next panel.
The panels were finally positioned to grid (vertically
and horizontally) by adjusting the stainless steel
hanger assembly.
The window panel was then slipped over the
dowel pin located on the spandrel unit, seated on
rubber pads, and shimmed to level, on the levelled
spandrel unit. The four corner anchors of the panel
were then fixed to the frame before the crane was
released.
In all, 1600 panel pieces were cast and fixed to
give an area of 12 000 m2 in elevation. Construction
commenced from mezzanine level upwards in order
to enclose the trading and office floors in advance of
the ground-floor retail units.
It took just 27 weeks to complete the cladding
contract, during which time an average of 60 panels
were erected per week using one, two or all three
cranes as they became available. At the peak of construction, 106 panels were erected per week working
with three site erection teams. The contract was
completed by the end of November 1988, when the
last 100 panels for the ground floor and shop front
areas were installed.

September 1988 cladding complete

to level 5

SPEED WITH BUILT-IN QUALITY

Broadgate House has shown that reinforced
concrete, used for both the frame and cladding, can
be designed and built to provide both clients and
tenants with buildings that are fast and economic to
construct, and which meet the following critical
requirements of end-users in todays office market.
High net lettable floor areas, created by an
efficient floor plan on a 9 x 12 m grid.
Flexibility for vertical and horizontal services,
both now and in the future, with a ribbed-slab
floor.
Quality of architecture - the external cladding,
which exploited the aesthetic appeal of precast
pigmented concrete, and the interior decorations
enhanced tenant identity and image.
Moreover, reinforced concretes inherent adaptability, short lead-in times and range of construction
options allowed the frame design to be modified
from an in situ to a composite in situ and precast
floor within the eight-week tender period, to take
full advantage of the faster construction method
proposed by the trade contractor. Handed over to
the client in 20 months and framed in 25 weeks,
Broadwalk House is ranked as the fastest-framed
project within the Broadgate development.
This achievement was possible because of close
involvement of the client, the choice of his
professional teams, the efficiency of site management
and the co-operation and expertise of the various
trade contractors who carried out the work.

Broadwalk House was

handed over to the
client in May 1989

Above left: December 1987 basement slab under construction,

contiguous piles exposed
Left: April 1988 - frame up to level 6,
cladding erection commenced on
mezzanine level

11

A P P E N D I X

THE PROJECT TEAM

Development Manager

Construction Manager
Architect and Structural
Engineer
Services Engineer
Frame Contractor
Precast Contractor

Rosehaugh Stanhope
Developments plc and
British Rail Property Board
Bovis-Schal Joint Venture
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Jaros Baum & Bolles
Ray ORourke & Son Limited
Schokbeton-Nijhuis Alkono
- Joint Venture

THE PROGRAMME

SCHEDULE OF AREAS
Gross floor area
Net lettable area
Number of storeys

m2
33 500
27 000
8

CONSTRUCTION COSTS
Piling
Substructure
Frame
M&E
Cladding/roofing
Finishes
External works
Sundries
Total

12

/m2
12.04
45.84
92.76
342.34
171.11
102.62
4.34
34.89
805.94

CONSTRUCTION TIME
Start
Finish
Duration

September 1987
May 1989
20 months

TYPICAL FLOOR
PLANS AND SECTIONS

Trading level 1

Section AA

Office level 4

Section BB

13

PROJECT PROFILE: BROADWALK HOUSE

D.F.H. Bennett and R.W. Gordon
BRITISH CEMENT ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION 97.313