Hove Gardens has been a pleasure to study and having an arrange site visit helped me source photos of on going work. Although this is a fairly major project and I will not be able to see the project be completed, I this past weeks have taught me a lot on how work goes on in and around site.

The workload that is currently underway are concrete pouring for floors and walls, as well as deliveries of pods and fitting these pods into the building using cranes.

Here are references that were used in this blog:

https://www.hove-gardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hove-Gardens-2-Public-Consultation-Boards_db-min.pdf

https://rg-group.co.uk

https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2020/09/02/councillors-approve-67m-18-storey-hove-gardens-scheme-for-216-flats/

https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWlnIa2tmmk

One major part of this project was ordering the ensuite/bathrooms for the build to rent homes. These were supplied by a company in Hull that come as a fully finished pod. Inside these cuboid pods, are a full fitted bathroom, tiled, with mirrors, toilet, and multi bath and shower all plumbed and ready to be installed into the building.

The pods where delivered wrapped in an orange protective film, and on a steel frame bottom. this makes it easy for the crane to manoeuvre the object.

A temporary platform is bolted on the side of the building where the crane can lower each pod into position on each floor.

As phase 1 is deep into its constructional build, Phase two is still in the works to commence. The initial consultation with BHCC first underwent in July 2021, with a public consultation following in the later august 2021. the application for submit planning was sent off in Autumn 2021 with an approved application by the council in Spring 2022.

Now all is approved, and set to start, construction will commence this Summer of 2022, hoping for completing in Spring 2024. Once completed, the first tenants for phase 2 will be able to move in for Summer 2024.

References:

https://www.hove-gardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Hove-Gardens-2-Public-Consultation-Boards_db-min.pdf

As this Project comes under a high rise building, majority of the build is waiting for concrete to cure in order to build upwards. to help speed up this process, RG are using temporary bracing to strengthen the integrity of the building’s structure. once concrete on lower levels have cured, then the temporary bracing can be removed and placed on levels above that have been poured more recently. Currently the East tower on site has reached its 9th storey, with the platform in place starting from the 8th.

RG must balance the management of curing concrete and project time and scheduling. They do not want to fall behind on schedule due to unsettled concrete, but also do not want to tush the project and suffer the consequences of fallen, unshared concrete. Which can lead to extreme situations such as collapses.

At this current stage of the project, there is limited space to manoeuvre around site or for materials to be stored. this creates pressure on the team to get work done, so new storage locations can be freed up. This can also produce a high level of risk and caution when moving on site as some areas may be cluttered with materials.

The site office is located on the East of the site, being a double storey office. however, this is still very small, creating an issue for all members of RG to work in the office. So a selection of extra office space is located offsite, north of Hove Train Station.

The next objective for the Hove Gardens project is to aim to get the two towers up and structured, as well as increasing the storeys of the adjacent building below.

Large transit mixers are currently on site, pumping tons of concrete through flexible pipework to wherever the the concrete is needed on site. The cost manager Omar Flint, who is currently on a placement year for RG Group, and studies at University of Brighton, mentioned that part of his job is to calculate how long the pipework needs to be to distribute the concrete around site. He can then go onto calculating the price per metre, to ensure the cost is at a minimum.

when pouring the concrete, a team of men are picking down the concrete to ensure no air is locked inside the concrete. not only does this strengthen the concrete when it sets, but also gives the concrete a flush finish. Steel rods in position to also strengthen each floor and retaining walls in the structure. However, in order to use these, workers must place 20mm spaces across the entirety of each new floor. This prevents the steel rods from being on the face in the concrete structure, avoiding weathering rust to the face of each floor.

In order to progress with the project, each previous floor of concrete must set and become strong enough before a further storey can be added above. this is crucial to the integrity of the build as there can not be room for error of a floor collapsing. On the East and West towers of Hove gardens, there are platforms that are temporally bolting to the top of the towers. these are lifted and moved higher by the site cranes when the floor below has cured, ready for the next level of concrete.

There are two cranes currently based on the site, located East and west sides in order to serve the two towers onsite, alongside the new adjacent building below. The crane arm is positioned in an obtuse angle as the square perimeter of the site is rather narrow. This means there are open roads surrounds the site which the crane cannot overhang.

Before the cranes could be setup, and application was approved by Network Rail as the crane is situation near the Hove railway track. If the machinery were to fall over in any circumstance, it ha the length to land and damage there railway tracks.

Both two cranes are sunken into the foundation of the site and bolted into place, in order to allow the crane to carry have loads. when RG are finished with the cranes, and no longer serve a purpose, the cranes will be unbolted and removed. the leftover area where the crane used to be will then get filled in by concrete.