Landmark Court, Southwark, London (ongoing)

U+I

90 weeks

£8m

Southwark, London, SE1

Location & Overview

Located close to Borough Market, between Southwark Street, Redcross Way and Crossbones Graveyard, the site is approximately 0.7 acres in size and lies around 250m west of London Bridge railway station in the London Borough of Southwark. Landmark Court’s redevelopment into ‘The Liberty of Southwark’, sees a mixed-use scheme providing 36 new homes, of which 50% are affordable housing, along with 200,000 sq ft of commercial space. Through a joint venture partnership between developer U+ I and Transport for London (TfL), the design creates new pedestrian routes, reinstating some of the medieval yards and lanes of historic Southwark, lining them with shops, cafes, restaurants, and market stalls and includes the restoration of 15 Southwark Street, which dates back to the 1860s.

Work, Challenges & Solutions

Undertaking of party wall negotiations through thorough investigations and full approval of the works from Network Rail. Demolition of the carpark and building adjacent to a Network Rail viaduct, pile preparation and enabling across the entire site, including the turning of soil and the relocation of the substations onto newly constructed bases.

London’s largest Roman mosaic find for half a century was discovered by John F Hunt’s project team at Landmark Court. Following the historic find and as a principal contractor, we were in constant liaison with both the client and MOLA to ensure the correct procedures were carried out.

The discovery of such an archaeological find was extremely important for Southwark Council and the surrounding community, and the team employed a young local archaeological apprentice to work on site, learning from MOLA in this ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’.

Due to the extent of the discovery, MOLA engaged between 30 to 40 archaeologists on site for a period of 52 weeks, who unearthed 4,000 items of significant interest along with over 80 bodies and 4 mosaics.

John F Hunt aided MOLA with the methodology for the careful, sequential removal of the mosaics, including the mode of transport, storage, new location, reassembly, equipment, and temporary works.

Achievements

John F Hunt were commended on numerous occasions by the Client for their diligence on this project and throughout the planning. U+I’s Health and Safety Business Partner was impressed with the arrangements in place and particularly how the works were coordinated with MOLA.

The project is ongoing.