Client: St George South London plc
Value of contract: £600,000
This groundworks project by the McArdle Group involved construction of surroundings for the Tower Marketing Suite, a prestigious new luxury development at St George Wharf in Vauxhall, London SW8.
The project began with the construction of ramps and a planter outside the Suite, three sets of staircases and install drainage throughout the area.
All of the surfaces were made watertight by applying waterproofing, then the floors were paved with silver grey granite and smoky black basalt. After that the walls on the staircases and planters were covered with basalt and reconstituted stone cladding.
The slabs needed to be laid with a 5mm joint between them and following the pattern drawn by the architects the gaps only lined up in one direction, having the other direction been laid in order to mimic randomness. The staircase treads, risers and slabs were also laid with a gap that, after being grouted, acts as a barrier to avoid infiltration and subsequent discoloration of the natural stone.
The underside of the treads was manufactured with a special groove to allow the installation of LED lighting on the lip of the tread.
We used stainless steel railings supported solely by glass in front of the staircase and on the river-facing side of the Marketing Suite, with glass supported by a steel frame on the remaining balconies.
