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Boom of a concrete pump over the seafront site, with the sun setting over the cove

Project 04 / 07

House in a cove

Foundations and retaining structures for a clifftop house, with difficult access for machinery and concrete pumped from the track.

Building by the sea and on a slope adds two problems to the design: the aggressiveness of the marine environment on the reinforcement, and the difficulty of getting machinery onto the plot.

The foundations were designed as a reinforced raft with retaining walls to stabilise the slope, with the concrete cover and mix chosen for a marine exposure class.

The pours were planned with a pump from the only accessible point, which determined the reinforcement layout, the size of each pour and the order of the construction stages.

In a cove, the best structural solution is the one you can actually pour.
01 Reinforced foundation raft on the sloping plot, with workers checking the mesh
02 Formwork and reinforcement of a retaining wall with the starter bars for the slab above
03 Reinforcement of a retaining wall propped against the slope before the pour
04 Foundation raft mesh laid out on the plot before the pour

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