21 March 2023
Project: Bordesley Hall, The Halloway, Alvechurch
Size: 46 homes with the redevelopment of the historic hall.
Disciplines working on the project:
About the project:
Corbally Group Initially instructed M-EC prior to Wain Homes acquiring the development. However, M-EC were retained following their long-standing relationship with Wain Homes.
M-EC was commissioned to provide a range of multi-disciplinary technical services to support the application for 46 new homes on the historic grounds of Bordesley Hall in Bromsgrove. The application included restoring the historic Bordesley Hall, which has planning consent for converting into luxury apartments.
The drainage team provided a flood risk assessment, drainage calculations, and survey. The entire development was located within Flood Zone 1, with surface water risk and that of other sources being of very low risk. However, following a soakaway test, it was concluded that soakaways would not provide a feasible drainage option for the site. It was proposed that surface water runoff generated from the site would be conveyed to an attenuation pond towards the southeast corner. This will then discharge into the existing drainage network at a controlled rate.
An engineering layout was produced in line with the outline layout to ensure the feasibility of development; the civils team also incorporated Vehicle Tracking to ensure the moveability of refuse vehicles, and a street light design was produced following a lighting assessment.
The transport provided a transport statement and travel plan to support the planning application, highlighting the traffic Impact, site access, accident data and development sustainability. It was determined that the development would actually provide a wider betterment to the rural highway network with the removal of larger vehicles and commercial/employment uses. Access to the development from the existing access road and a T-Junction onto Holloway Lane was considered the best option. Whilst the development is of rural nature, there are good sustainable transport links for both walking and public transport, with the closest bus station 730m west of the development. The development is also well equipped for homeworking, with the provision of superfast broadband, further reducing car journeys.
M-EC’s utility team determined existing utility services across the development, with consultation with key service providers and statutory undertakers, to establish budget costs for connections of gas, electricity, telecommunications and water, service supply, and capacity. No diversion was required on the development; however, precautions were necessary for existing overhead and underground cables, with the addition of disconnection of existing supply likely needed to facilitate the development.
As the client had proposed the redevelopment of Bordesley Hall to accommodate luxury apartments, a structural survey of the existing building was required to determine the current structural condition to ensure the structural stability of the proposed redevelopment. The results from the study were positive, with the hall being in sound condition. Minor recommendations were made, such as the introduction of vertical joints inline with window reveals to alleviate cracks to the external walls and adequate ventilation to the cellar and externally, such as gutters, outlets, hoppers and downpipes to avoid dampness in the cellar and internal walls.
Following a noise assessment to determine the impact of the development and surrounding areas, there were no constraints to the principle of the development. However, it was identified that the operational activity of the surrounding commercial buildings would lead to a likely indication of impact. As such, the mitigation suggestions recommended the selection of glazing, acoustically attenuated ventilation and building fabric with a sufficient Rw and Dn,e,w.
A phase 1 study was undertaken by the Geo-Environmental team, which determined that the environmental development risk was considered low to moderate, with recommendations for further investigation to assess the risk of contaminates and ground gases.
The M-EC Geomatics team provided a full suite of services, which started with a topographical survey for the full development to gain an accurate plan with site levels, boundary identification and natural/man-made features.
For the redevelopment of Bordesley Hall and the surrounding area, the team undertook a Measured Building Survey (MBS) of the existing property to obtain critical structural information, including elevations and floorplans.
To obtain this information, they utilised a multi-faceted methodology encompassing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and a robotic total station. This created an encompassing control network in which all three techniques could be tied into the same coordinate system to merge the captured data of the whole building seamlessly.
This data was then processed using Pix4D and Leica Cyclone Register before being exported as a unified point cloud file, and 2D CAD plans were created using LSS & Cloudworx and exported in DWG and PDF format.
The team at M-EC are looking forward to following the progress and build of this development and wish Wain Homes all the best.
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