Phoenix Court, Camden

Phoenix Court is the first project CGA have delivered for Camden Council. Situated near Kings Cross, the project consisted of the strip-out and refurbishment of an existing underground car park to deliver a new cycle store, shower and changing room facility.

The Camden Council facility is a dedicated space constructed in an old derelict basement car park to enable up to 200 employees to cycle to work and store their bicycles securely during their time at work. The facility consists of 200 bike stands and lockers in a secure space that is now accessed via swipe card control entry with closed circuit television in operation at all times which is linked into the Camden Council Pro-watch system. Within the secure area CGA provided separate facilities for male and female consisting of four showers, two toilets each along with a vanity unit with two sinks and two hand driers in each facility. There is also a drying room in each facility along with hair dryer stations consisting of 3 hair dryers on each side. There is also an independent cleaning cupboard with drinking fountain installed on the outside wall.

Key packages
The blockwork to the building was 4m stack bond and was the main architectural feature for the external look and therefore required careful setting out and execution. As the project is situated within a basement car park a major package was the extract and heat recovery system installed to be both efficient and cost effective to ensure a comfortable environment.

Challenges/Solutions
Securing the site was a principal consideration due to the location and that it will be unmanned, therefore two access controlled gates were installed along with new secure louvre panels and a metal secure fire door to the rear of the building. After initial surveys we identified there would not be enough draw through the electrical intake to power everything therefore a new electrical intake was required along with a new electrical intake enclosure. This was managed and completed by CGA along with UK Power Networks.

To create the drainage required for the showers facilities we had to dig down in the car park and create a new chamber that would tap into the existing gully. After initial survey we discovered an interceptor that needed pumping out and disposing off by a specialised contractor. We were able to convert the interceptor into a chamber and tap into it, we also had to re-line the foul sewer branch to the main sewer as on survey was discovered to be cracked and building up in places. Initial design was for a floating screed in the raised middle section, to make the area more maintenance friendly and with concerns the screed would crack due to the weight we suggested and installed a raised access floor.