What was the project OES worked on?

This was the high-profile and culturally-important total rebuild of the Hope Church in Wales. It was a big £4million project to provide a religious building, office, and a nursery facility to a thriving community.

When we first met our client, they were ‘bursting at the seams’. Without the space to accommodate the hundreds of people wanting access to their services and activities, they began placing people on long waiting lists.

This project was a three-storey mixed use development. The building was to have approximately 3500m2 of floor area, containing a restaurant, office space, classrooms, and an auditorium. This was to provide the community with the facilities they desperately needed.

Who did we work with?

The Hope Church had been a staple in their community for over 40 years. They were incredibly motivated to serve their ever-growing congregation.

OES were extremely pleased to provide our services here to give this community-serving organisation the space, the flexibility, and the innovative structural design needed to offer the people of Newtown the very best.

The services we provided

Structural, civil engineering & BIM modelling

How we contributed towards the project

Using a superstructure of steel composite frame, we provided lightweight steel SFS wall panels to build the new Hope Church. We kept this project sensitive to the local environment, with a ground floor partial basement cut into the natural slope of the valley embankment.

With OES’s extensive knowledge of building foundation structural engineering design, we decided on pad foundations to best support this build.

Our background in civil engineering design provided us with the insight to find a sustainable drainage design for this project. Our combination of experience and use of the latest industry standard computer modelling software are what makes our drainage design service fit for purpose every time.

Our on-site expert chose the sustainable drainage design model for the Hope Church, with an attenuation tank – the most cost-effective, working solution to protect the environment and meet the planners, LLFA and EA requirements.

What the most challenging aspect of the job was

The coordination of the foundation design with the geotechnical engineers proved the most taxing part of this project. There were very real concerns over the embankment slope stability and varying ground bearing stratum.

We found that we could make the best use of existing site topography by means of creating partial basement areas and external terraced areas.

After the job

“A brilliant project to be a part of”, says company and technical director of OES, Sundeep Batt.

“It’s always deeply gratifying when we can help a client solve their problems. The main purpose of the build was to create space, but with all the extra facilities and sustainable build work, the Hope Church could easily become a cultural landmark.

“We hope to work with them again very soon.”

Call us on 0121 285 1980 to find out more how we can work together. Alternatively, email us direct on info@o-e-s.co.uk.

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