Laing O'Rourke 'tops out' ahead of schedule at imperial west

Laing O’Rourke has ‘topped out’ Residential Accommodation Block F ahead of schedule at Imperial College’s White City Campus – a development which will bring together researchers, business and partners from academia to share ideas and turn cutting-edge research into benefits for society.

The contract, which is the third project Laing O’Rourke has been awarded by Imperial’s management partner Voreda, is now due to be completed ahead of schedule in 2018.

Once completed, the 215,000 sq ft. Block F, will provide 192 much needed new homes, including 59 earmarked for Imperial key workers at below market rents.

To achieve such a milestone ahead of delivery, there were a number of key features to the management of the build, which included:

• Digital Engineering techniques applied to build Block F in the virtual environment, with Laing O’Rourke’s offsite Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) philosophy applied to the construction.
• A safety-conscious component-led approach used to reduce deliveries to the project site in a congested part of West London.
• Learning applied from a number of recent high profile London projects such as the Leadenhall building, Clarges in Mayfair and the Two Fifty One development in Southwark, with a sharp focus on the quality of delivery.
• Cross-boundary supply-chain working practices applied by a highly integrated team who were able to deliver structural steelwork, modules, risers, plant and bathroom pods as efficiently as possible.
• A significant part of the structure was converted to precast concrete then developed at Laing O’Rourke’s Explore Industrial Park facility.
• Bathroom pods, risers corridor modules and plant skids manufactured by CHtM and installed by Expanded.
• A flexible approach on-site which helped to identify and eliminate duplication on operational planning, engineering and a focus on the most effective deployment of resources, all of which led to improved efficiency.

This is the latest milestone in the development of Imperial’s White City Campus, which will co-locate research, entrepreneurs, established companies and globalcorporations, creating an innovation ecosystem, unprecedented in London.

Liam Cummins, Head of Building for Laing O’Rourke’s Europe Hub said:

“As part of our ongoing relationship with both Imperial College London and Voreda, in Block F we look forward to delivering another major landmark for the White City campus next year. Laing O’Rourke will continue to develop innovative techniques, and new ways to apply our knowledge and engineering expertise, across a number of residential projects across the UK. ”

John Anderson, Director of Financial Strategy at Imperial, said: “This is an exciting step for our White City Campus. Our landmark residential tower is central to our ambition to attract a diverse, vibrant community at White City".