Complex foundations

Shoemakers is our first student accommodation building made up of 73 rooms from studio apartments to 7 bedroom penthouses, 3 & 4 bed apartments to 4 bed townhouses. Located a 3 minute drive from the University of East Anglia. The site was originally the home of The Shoemakers public house, but when it fell into disrepair it was demolished to allow for student accommodation to be built.

We experienced several ground issues due to building over the old footprint and the cellars that were found in the old pub.

The building took up almost all of the site so space was limited from the start. Parts of the building were 4 stories tall and there was quite a lot of steel in the structure that had to be taken down onto the footing.

All 73 rooms had ensuite pod facilities so the drainage needed to be in the perfect position from the start. To achieve this we used a plank floor system which had to be craned into place.

What’s more the roof had a large overhang designed into it with no gutters which made the build of it quite complex.

What we achieved was a consistent high quality finish across each of the rooms, but more importantly it raised the profile of what was a really tired and dilapidated area with a building that stands on its own architecturally.