Project Profile - Imperial War Musuem

The proposed development at the Imperial War Museum is for the construction of a new head office building in the open yard, which sits directly behind the existing All Saints building, the IWM's current headquarters. Plowman Craven was appointed to provide environmental planning support for a number of technical disciplines.

Scroll down for more details...

What we did…

Plowman Craven was appointed to provide environmental planning support for a number of technical disciplines. We initially completed an arboricultural survey for the site in accordance with British Standard BS 5837:2012 - the site is particularly sensitive as it is located entirely within the West Square Conservation Area and all trees on site are subject to Tree Preservations Orders (TPOs).

Plowman Craven also completed an archaeological desk-based assessment to identify and assess the below-ground archaeological and above-ground heritage assets to understand their significance and any potential impacts upon them from the proposed development.

The study identified the risk of post-medieval agricultural/horticultural and mid-20th century building remains being encountered during groundworks, but considered these remains to be of ‘low’ significance.

To assist in the design process, we also completed a arboricultural impact assessment which looked at the design proposals in the context of the tree constraints of the site. This analysis highlighted the areas where tree protection measures would need to be implemented during construction.

Due to the limited space available on site, the proposed new building slightly encroached within the root protection area of three of the trees on site. We therefore suggested that brick paving resurfacing across the majority of the site should be installed using a no-dig methodology, in conjunction with a load bearing cellular confinement system.