Nova, Victoria

Creating a new destination in the heart of the UK capital

We worked to deliver an inspiring place where leading businesses and their employees want to live and work, and a bustling restaurant quarter where locals and tourists meet, eat and shop.

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Nova, Victoria Project summary

Client

Land Securities

Key partners

Flanagan Lawrence, PLP Architecture, Benson + Forsyth, Robert Bird Group, EC Harris, Gardiner & Theobald, Aecom, Hilson Moran Partnership

Services provided

Construct

Sectors

Retail, Offices, Commercial, Commercial

Locations

UK and Europe, UK - London and south-east England

Project timeline

Start date
2013
Status
Complete
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Project story

A formerly unloved and run-down area of central London, the comprehensive transformation of this 5.5 acre island site for Land Securities is the defining moment in the £2.2 billion reinvention of Victoria.

We delivered the 83,000 sq m first phase, comprising high quality, energy efficient office accommodation, retail and restaurant space and modern luxury apartments. All of it housed within three landmark buildings at the heart of the new, pedestrianised, landscaped public quarter. Nova, Victoriais a vibrant new destination for London.

We took the lessons we learnt delivering iconic projects around the capital and put them to good use at Victoria to provide certainty of delivery to our client while creating a lasting legacy of employment opportunities for local residents.

The Nova Building Under Construction - Mace Group

Project stats

1,486 sq m of community space
170 apartments
175 jobs and 10 apprenticeships created over the lifetime of the project

Points of note

Creating a lasting legacy for Victoria

Our commitment to delivering a legacy for Victoria included the creation of 175 jobs and 10 apprenticeships for local residents over the lifetime of the project, working with City of Westminster College, Jobcentre Plus, Land Securities and our supply chain.

Managing construction on a constrained site

Although the site is 5.5 acres, it is surrounded on all sides by a busy one-way system and is opposite Victoria station - one of the capital's busiest interchanges and an underground interchange used by one million passengers a week. This means that the many vehicle movements necessary for the construction of a site of this size were carefully scheduled around traffic flows and coordinated with our neighbours.

Working with our stakeholders

The Victoria Underground station upgrade was taking place at the same time as the construction of Nova, Victoria, so the Mace team undertook regular, detailed planning meetings with Transport for London to coordinate construction activity. We also worked with other key stakeholders to the site including three of London's most exclusive five-star hotels and the Victoria Palace Theatre, which continued to hold performances at the venue since work at Nova, Victoria began.

Building a basement, top to bottom

One of biggest construction challenges we faced was the giant, 3m diameter Western Deep Sewer, which passes directly underneath the site. To ensure that the sewer was not damaged during the construction of the project's 20,000 sq m basement, we adopted a top-down construction solution, which enabled both the superstructure and sub-basement to be built simultaneously, ensuring the sewer could remain in place.

An integrated team approach

Our MEP (mechanical, electrical and public health) team was an integral part of the Mace project team, delivering key components of the scheme. The team oversaw the installation of a basement energy centre with the capacity to export heat to a district heating system external to the site. They also delivered the entire MEP scope, including the fit out of all the apartments and Cat A works to all floors of the development.

Image Gallery

Street View of The Nova Building, Buckingham Palace Road - Mace Group
Aerial View of The Nova Building Construction - Mace Group
The Nova Building Sales Team - Mace Group
Street View of The Nova Building Exterior - Mace Group

“I am delighted that Land Securities has appointed Mace to deliver what will become one of London’s most significant developments. Nova, Victoria is a complex project due to its proximity to vital transport links but I am confident that the team will demonstrate the expertise that Land Securities expects from us and deliver a major development for London.”

Stephen Pycroft Executive Chairman, Mace

“Using BIM modelling allowed us to build the structure to suit the use of prefabricated products by engineering the main basement corridors, strengthening them in places to allow plant modules to be maneuvered along them and into position.”

Tony Palgrave Project Director, Mace

“Prefabrication was what attracted us to the Mace offer, it transformed parts of the programme from a few months to a few days; prefabrication of services in the basement alone has probably saved six months on the programme.”

Paul Flexney-Briscoe Project Director, Land Securities

Tags:

construction residential and student accommodation retail offices

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