HTA Design - Olympic Way
Project Details
Company - HTA Design LLP
Project - Schubette House, Olympic Way, Wembley
Technology - Light Gauge Steel
Sector - Residential / Commercial
Project Overview
As one of the tallest modular buildings in London, the Shubette House re-development sits at a prominent junction adjacent to Olympic Way, the main pedestrian route connecting Wembley Station and Stadium. With 158 new homes and a 237 room hotel, commercial and leisure uses on the ground floor fronting onto the street, associated parking in the basement, landscaping and play in the courtyard, the project delivers a new mixed use scheme of the highest quality. It provides much needed housing including private homes for sale, affordable and private rental, and new amenity provision to the area. The design consists of an L-shaped building forming a strong corner to Fulton Way and Olympic Way, with a 19 storey tower providing a landmark.
The hotel fronts onto Olympic Way and is managed by Novotel and Network Housing Group own the affordable housing. The buildings were designed from the outset by HTA for off-site manufacture using the Vision Modular System (VMS). This is a steel volumetric solution offering many advantages in speed of construction and reductions in defects while providing the flexibility to deliver the varied forms and curved tower that are strong features of the design. The system uses hot-rolled steel frames, infilled with light-gauge steel panels with a concrete floor for structural stability, good acoustic and fire performance. The system can be used for high-rise and has been used up to 23 stories elsewhere in the UK.
The site construction was divided into four distinct stages, the foundations and ground floor were constructed traditionally using concrete, providing a podium on which the remainder of the building sits. This included creating slip-formed concrete cores which provide lateral stability to the structures. (See photographs for illustration) The residential units and hotel rooms were constructed from modules made in the VMS factory which came to site fully fitted out internally and delivered by lorry to a predetermined schedule. They were then craned into position at a rate of eight modules per day on average. The cladding and roofing was added onto the building, the services connected and the external works completed.
