Conversion of the existing News International Editorial building into social housing as part of the larger St George London Dock development in Tower Hill.

The Times House project involved the conversion of the existing News International editorial building into residential flats as part of the larger St George London Docks Development, providing 70 new affordable homes to the borough.

The five-storey building required major structural alterations to its reinforced concrete frame to suit a new layout. We removed the Primary RC stability cores, including partial removal of adjacent floor slabs.

New stair and service riser cores were introduced to take over the building’s stability system. A new floor was added over the entire building footprint and existing floor plates were removed and re-instated in new configurations.

Floor slabs were extended and strengthened, while other redundant voids infilled. Structural columns were removed and relocated with transfer structures installed to support the new floor configurations.

The removal of the building’s primary RC stability system required our in-depth analysis and design of a temporary steel stability bracing system.

We were involved from the project outset, providing our expertise in renovations and major structural works to the design and construction teams, ensuring all decisions made on construction techniques were well-informed. 

It was important the construction team understood the breadth of alterations proposed. To support this, we created visualisation models to demonstrate areas to be demolished, strengthened or added in.

Location
London, UK

Client
St George

Architect
Hawkins\Brown