Central St Giles

---

Case Study Details

• Client: United House Developments Ltd
• Contract Duration: June 2010 - August 2011
• Contract Value: £12m
• Contract Form: JCT Design and Build
• Contract Location: Central St Giles, St Giles High Street, London, WC2H 8LB

---

Images

Click thumbnails to enlarge

---

Description

Designed by world renowned architect Renzo Piano and featuring striking, multi-coloured glazed ceramic facades, Central St Giles is a dramatic and stunning addition to London’s streetscape.

Located just off Shaftesbury Avenue, to the north of Covent Garden, Central St Giles comprises 56 private apartments, 53 affordable homes, 400,000 sq ft of office space and a public piazza with a selection of restaurant and retail units.

The private residential element of the scheme comprises 56 apartments arranged over 11 floors with an awe-inspiring penthouse occupying the entire top floor. Interior design is cutting edge and of exemplary quality. Prices range from c£500,000 for suites, to over £5 million for the penthouse. 90% of the apartments have been sold off-plan.

As a result of United House Group’s involvement in the scheme and our ability to deliver complex construction projects to demanding timescales and on budget, United House Limited were delighted to be awarded the contract to fit out the affordable apartments on behalf of Circle Anglia.

In July 2009 United House commenced fit-out works to the  affordable units, which were completed on programme in June 2010. Included are one, two and three bedroom apartments and two five bed duplexes across 15 storeys. The affordable apartments are mixed tenure comprising socially rented and shared ownership properties.

Challenges

A major challenge at Central St Giles was the need to use 100% FSC timber.

FSC UK (Forest Stweardship Council)  is a registered charity that ensures  sustainable management of the worlds forests. The system allows consumers to purchace timber from well-managed forests and demonstrate this by chain of custody certification.

When ordering products such as general timber or mixed products such as kitchens and wardrobes we ensured our suppliers could produce a chain of custody paper trail right  back to the timbers source.

These records were then stored and audited on a regular basis by our Environmental Manager.

Another significant challenge was the restrictions associated with working in a tight ‘island’ site surrounded by a constant traffic flow. United House was only able to commence works once the overall piazza was near completion. This presented challenges in respect of getting materials to site, dealing with other contractors and working with the surrounding businesses and neighbours.

Again, the expertise United House has to offer in managing and delivering complex construction projects enabled us to ensure all challenges were overcome.

• Download Case Study PDF (2MB)