Heritage Court
A four-storey apartment building with undercroft parking, where a contractor-led switch from masonry to steel frame demanded careful detailing to design out cold-bridging. A circa £3m build.
- Location
- Dover, Kent
- Type
- Apartment building
- Status
- On site
- Year
- 2023
- RIBA stages
- 4–5
- Practice
- PJArchitecture
A four-storey apartment building with undercroft parking, procured under a Design and Build contract. Part-way through, the contractor encouraged a change of structural system from masonry to steel frame — a decision with real consequences for the detailing.
I researched steel-frame details and built a 3D structural model from the engineers' drawings to understand exactly where columns and beams landed, so we could design out cold-bridging before it reached site. The work spanned fire-rated wall and floor build-ups, intumescent protection to exposed steel, and the smoke-vent strategy through the stair core. It became my RIBA Part 3 case study. Construction cost: around £3 million.
