Their challenge:

To provide information on ground conditions for the construction of a new air ambulance headquarters, a bespoke build which will host a clinical training and simulation centre, research and development facilities, offices, accommodation, two helipads, hangar and a final approach and take off area, alongside associated roadways and car parking infrastructure.

Our solution:

From an initial scope and brief, the investigation was modified several times in the lead up to execution to accommodate both minor and major design and layout alterations to the buildings, outdoor space and potential drainage options.

The ground investigation was predominantly carried out within one main investigation, with a small supplementary investigation to inform revised drainage options following review of the initial results.

Scope of works included:

The team was appointed to complete the following package of works:

• Unexploded ordnance assessment and supervision
• Trial pits, window sampling and dynamic cone penetrometer testing to provide information on shallow ground conditions
• Cone penetration testing (CPT) and rotary core drilling to ascertain intermediate and deeper ground conditions
• Gas and groundwater monitoring
• Infiltration testing
• Chemical and geotechnical laboratory testing
• Geoenvironmental and geotechnical interpretive reporting including recommendations for foundations, floor slabs, chemical attack on concrete, excavations, pavements and drainage, with a contamination and gas risk assessment

The results:

Following the granting of permission in November 2021, construction of the new headquarters commenced in Spring 2022, and at the time of writing is nearing completion with recruitment of clinical and non-clinical staff currently underway.

Testimonial:

“Congratulations to you all on a job very well done. A year ago we had the just a basic strategy and the hope of achieving planning in this location; we as a team have executed a plan to deliver this consent brilliantly. There are numerous, difficult, often insurmountable problems that exist in obtaining planning consent in the green belt, and the content of this development is far from commonplace, or easily delivered, on any site. To achieve what has been achieved in any circumstances would have been a top job on previously developed land, remarkable in open countryside, astonishing in the green belt, but to achieve all this with the background of covid, lockdown, separation, illness and not being able to meet freely is unbelievable, sublime, extraordinary” – Planning Consultant