Oriam, Heriot-Watt University

GEA completed a site investigation for construction of a huge structure to create a full size indoor 3G football pitch along with world-class sports science facilities.

The project, which is within the sports parkland of the Heriot-Watt compound sports area, required a phased site investigation that was carried out without damaging the sports pitches already in use on the site.

The investigation comprised a combination of shallow boreholes to determine the depth to rock and trial pits to determine the foundations of the existing buildings. This was followed by deep rotary cored boreholes to assess the characteristics of the underlying mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate that comprise the Gullane Formation.

GEA provided advice on piled foundations including different founding criteria for the various strata and a comparison of potential pile installation techniques. Advice was also given in respect of retaining wall designs, ground water control and soil contamination.

The project has won a range of awards including, Scottish Design Awards Leisure/Culture Building of the Year 2017, Structural Steel Design Award 2017 and the Civic Trust Award 2017.