Cleveland Clinic
London, UK
Sine Environmental Limited provided noise advice during the construction of a 200 bed hospital known as Cleveland Clinic London at 33 Grosvenor Place. The impressive historic facade of a six-storey office building which previously occupied the site was retained, with the new hospital facilities built behind.
As the front facade of the building was on a TfL ‘red route’ (one of London’s main routes), and the residential streets adjacent to the other facades had very few parking bays to suspend, there was no prospect of erecting or dismantling the steel supports for the retained facades during the daytime. Therefore the majority of the works associated with the facades, and most crane lifts, had to be undertaken at night. Away from the red route the surrounding area was predominantly residential in character, and the resulting noise environment was quiet during the evening and night. Major night-time works combined with low levels of background noise and the proximity of some of London’s most expensive residential properties created a situation where effective control of construction noise was imperative.
The night-time works were conducted in accordance with a dispensation from the extant s.61 consent for the works issued by Westminster City Council. The conditions of the dispensation required noise monitoring and, as always, the use of best practicable means to reduce noise from the works. However, despite the noise monitoring and the measures taken to reduce noise (such as lining skips with resilient materials and providing acoustic screening around them), noise complaints from nearby residents persisted.
Sine Environmental was commissioned by Cleveland Clinic as an external advisor to make observations, conduct attended / long term unattended noise measurements, record the construction activities and associated control measures, and to give advice on additional Best Practical Means of noise control which might be implemented by the main contractor. This was a complex and interesting project which increased our familiarity with some less common construction and demolition techniques.