Part of the Brentford Lock West Masterplan, the London Borough of Hounslow’s Commerce Road project aims to deliver 124 affordable homes. Working with LB Hounslow and Karakusevic Carson Architects, we provided civil and structural engineering support on this serviced site. This included providing technical assistance to the council in their negotiations on the site’s agreement for lease, capturing rights to use the sitewide infrastructure and inspecting the adequacy of installations.

Our structural engineering approach prioritised simplicity and robustness via a reinforced concrete frame structure, providing the cost certainty and durability required by the client. We reduced the building weight by optimising the column layout and slab depths, and worked in accordance with the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap to reduce the impact of the material choices. This included specifying steelwork with a UK-CARES Rosette rating, recycled aggregates and cement replacements, and tailoring strengths to minimise embodied carbon. We also utilised thermal breaks in balconies and in some columns to help achieve the Passivhaus standard of construction.