Our cutting-edge planning and project management software, Asta Powerproject<\/a>, enabled McGee\u2019s project managers to implement pioneering techniques, mitigate structural risk and coordinate material movements on an incredibly challenging site.<\/p>\n Asta Powerproject allowed McGee to:<\/p>\n The project received a Fleming Award<\/a> and a Ground Engineering<\/a> award and was the McGee has a reputation for accepting ambitious projects \u2013 from complex demolition work to facilitate the UK\u2019s HS2 high-speed railway line to leading Phase 3 earthworks for the redevelopment of London\u2019s Battersea Power Station.<\/p>\n But these projects seem straightforward compared with the trailblazing work that McGee completed for Claridge\u2019s Hotel in 2015-16 when they took on a job that no other engineering company thought was possible!<\/p>\n Claridge\u2019s wanted to increase its capacity by 50%, adding a five-storey mega-basement underneath the hotel. The new 65,000 sq ft underground space would house two swimming pools, a spa, a state-of-the-art wine cellar, a kitchen and laundry facilities.<\/p>\n This plan was ambitious in itself, but another layer of complexity existed. The hotel needed to remain open throughout the building and construction works could not disturb the first-class experience that Claridge\u2019s Hotel guests expect to receive.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery other company invited to tender wanted to do a traditional project, but the client was adamant that they didn\u2019t want to close the hotel. But whenever someone says<\/span> The hotel\u2019s extension plans carried significant risks. The new mega-basement was situated directly underneath Claridge\u2019s Art Deco extension, constructed in the 1920s on a single reinforced concrete slab.<\/p>\n McGee\u2019s project director, Jim Mackey, developed a creative construction plan to be executed by project engineer (and Jim\u2019s daughter) Michelle Mackey.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did some trial work to determine what the existing building structure was made of and what was and wasn\u2019t possible, then Jim sat down with our technical department and put together a 3D animation of the sequence.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n With the high-level sequence mapped out, Jim handed the project to Michelle, who needed to turn a static plan into something more dynamic. Michelle chose Asta Power project\u00a0planning and project management software to rise to this challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cAsta Powerproject enabled me to put in the detail we needed and then roll the programme up, so we could still present a high-level view. We didn\u2019t need everyone to see tasks hour by hour, but going into that level of detail meant we could flag any potential issues early on.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Claridge\u2019s project was divided into multiple phases, starting with a team of miners hand-digging a network of tunnels directly underneath the hotel.<\/p>\n They dug down 30m to create a series of shafts that would become the hotel\u2019s new foundations. Concrete was poured into the shafts to create the new foundations and new\n
\nhotel \u2013 something other engineering companies said was impossible.<\/li>\n
\na team of mining contractors working around the clock.<\/li>\n
\nsubject of a BBC television documentary, The Mayfair Hotel Megabuild.<\/p>\nAccepting an \u201cimpossible\u201d engineering project<\/h3>\n
\nsomething can\u2019t be done; we say challenge accepted.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\nSequencing a programme with pioneering techniques<\/h3>\n
\ncolumns were constructed from within the shafts for the existing hotel building to rest on.<\/p>\n