ICE London Civil Engineering Awards 2013
NEO Bankside
Architect: Rogers Stirk + Partners
Client: GC Bankside LLP (Native Land and Grosvenor JV)
Structural Engineers: Waterman Structures Ltd
Main Contractor: Carillion
Services Engineer: Hoare Lea
Landscape Architect: Gillespies
Fire Consultant: Hoare Lea
Planning Consultrant: DP9
Cost Consultant: WT Partnership
Co-architects: John Robertson Architects
Development Manager: Native Land
NEO Bankside comprises 217 residential units in four hexagonal pavilions ranging from 12 to 24 storeys and a six-storey office block, located next to the Tate Modern, one of the most visited museums in the world. All the buildings of the scheme take their cues from the immediate context and it is the quality of the entire ensemble – rather than the individual parts – which creates drama. The steel and glass pavilions fit perfectly into the Bankside landscape, the oxide reds of the Winter Gardens echo those of Tate Modern and nearby Blackfriars Bridge.
Following a successful planning application, Waterman Structures suggested a review of the bracing system, as they had been investigating the possibility of relocating the bracing outside of the cladding plane allowing it to be expressed as the distinct and legible system which has given the scheme much of its charismatic language.
This was the first time an external bracing system had been considered for a major residential scheme in the UK and represented a considerable engineering challenge. Although the primary structure of the buildings is a concrete frame, the perimeter bracing serves three key purposes: to provide lateral stability under wind load contributing up to 75 per cent of the overall stability; to reduce the requirement for sheer walls allowing greater flexibility of internal planning and servicing arrangements; and to provide support for the winter garden elements at the prows of the building.
The grey bracing elements are formed from 400mm x 200mm oval hollow sections (OHS), to maximise their structural capacity in the working plane. They are joined at every third floor by pinned connections or ‘nodes’ which were developed with Waterman Structures as a single and universal design which would work in all the different nodal conditions. These include connections in plane but also across the folded façade, at the winter garden prows, and to the ground level tie-downs. The nodes transfer the lateral forces applied to the structural frame by wind loads on the cladding into the bracing system, and allow for the transfer of bracing forces between OHS members in the plane of the framework. Lateral loads from the intermediate floors are transferred to the nodal floors by a pair of reinforced concrete walls arranged symmetrically around the core, which act as vertical beams. In the prow locations the nodes also transfer the north/south winter garden hanger support loads into the bracing system.
Winter gardens are enclosed, single-glazed balconies at the north and south ends of each building, suspended from the main structure on a lightweight deck with large sliding screens. They act both as enclosed terraces and additions to the interior living space.
A generous public realm is also created at ground level with landscaped groves defining two clear public routes through the site connecting the riverside gardens outside Tate Modern through to Southwark Street. The permeability through the site was a key driver of the design and the imaginative arrangement of the pavilions provides residents with generous accommodation and maximum daylight.
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