We are the civil and structural engineers for the Brown Street development in Hale, Altrincham. The development consists of a row of 10 four-storey townhouses and a two-storey car park for public use; the roof of the car park also provides a garden terrace for the townhouses. There is also a four-storey apartment block on the site, providing 12 affordable apartments. The development site is highly constrained and sits within a highly sought-after residential area of Hale with, so the design and heights of the buildings were under careful scrutiny and reflect those in the sensitive conservation area.

We have been involved with the project since the early stages and the project gained planning permission in December 2018 with our input. We provided a Flood Risk Assessment for the planning application, including a proposed foul and surface water drainage strategy with an attenuation tank to limit the discharge into the United Utilities sewer. We have also assisted with the client’s liaison with Network Rail, as the site is bounded the east by a railway line and is adjacent to Hale Railway Station. Our work included collaborating with the client and contractor to produce foundation proposals adjacent to the railway line that minimise disruption to Network Rail’s land.  The use of piles was omitted to avoid the need for a piling rig so close to the railway line, and depths of excavations for foundations were minimised to avoid undermining the live railway just a few metres away from the site boundary.

The structural design for the development is a combined steel frame for the car park and the first floor of the townhouses, with load-bearing masonry for the remaining townhouse levels above the podium level. The apartment block is also a steel frame with composite metal deck concrete slabs.

We have worked with Project 3 Architects to create an efficient design for the car park in the constrained site area, maximising parking space numbers to accommodate those offset from the footprint of the residential development on the site. We provided vehicle tracking for the proposed car park layouts and we have proposed a steel frame for the car park in order to gain long spans and minimise columns in the car park area. The steel frame that forms the townhouse terraces has been designed to allow flexibility for future users which is increases the saleability for the client.