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Riverside Resource Recovery Facility

London

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The successful completion of this major £250 million ‘Energy from Waste’ facility built on brownfield land in Bexley, on the south bank of the Thames concluded Race Cottam’s involvement as architect and client advisor to Cory Environmental Ltd on the UK’s most efficient EFW facility. The waste is used as fuel to generate 66MWe per annum – sufficient to meet the needs of 66,000 homes and is sustainably transported from the City of London by the River Thames.

The Brief

The facility was initially proposed almost two decades before its completion but because of its sensitive location it faced stiff opposition both politically from the former Mayor as well as various pressure groups. After three public enquiries, Race Cottam were employed to work with the client, engineers and process contractors to rework the scheme to ensure the design was achievable and practical whilst ensuring planning conditions were discharged

The Design

With our experience in dealing with sensitive sites and our understanding of the processes involved, we were able to assist the client in providing a Design Guide for the scheme and developing relationships with key stakeholders, notably the Local Planning Authority to enable key planningconstraints to be discharged.

The project involved the design of a large major process equipment building, measuring 150m x 60m x 50m high, plus a 270m-long waste delivery jetty where waste barges berth.

Th Outcome

Some 60,000m³ of concrete was needed for the project and it was recognised in the Concrete Society Awards scooping the Civil Engineering prize.

With our expertise, we were able to work with the design team and stakeholder groups to get the UK’s largest Energy from Waste Facility realised. Transporting London’s waste on a fleet of barges, the EFW Centre is a unique river-based infrastructure project that we are very proud to have played a part in.