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The Vera Mitchell Building is a multi-unit residential development delivering 122 private apartments with ancillary commercial space at ground level.
The Vera Mitchell Building introduced 122 private apartments and ancillary commercial accommodation to an established urban area of Leicester.
Located close to Leicester Royal Infirmary and De Montfort University, the development provides homes within reach of major employment, education and local amenities. Its combination of residential accommodation and ground-floor commercial space brings complementary uses together within one building.
Farrow Walsh provided structural engineering design for the development, encompassing the foundations and superstructure.
Our team designed a piled foundation solution in response to the site conditions, together with a hot-rolled steel frame to support the proposed accommodation. The structural arrangement was coordinated with the residential layouts and commercial space, taking account of how loads would be transferred through the building to the foundations.
The design supported an efficient approach to construction while accommodating the different spatial requirements of the scheme. Coordination with the wider project team helped integrate the structural elements with the building’s intended uses and the constraints of the site.
The development’s position within a dense urban environment influenced both the structural design and the approach to delivery.
Working within an established setting required consideration of the surrounding infrastructure and the space available for construction. The foundation and frame proposals needed to respond to those conditions while supporting the scale and arrangement of the new building.
The piled foundation solution and steel frame formed a coordinated structural system, providing a practical basis for delivering substantial residential accommodation within the available site.
A central consideration was the relationship between the apartments and the commercial accommodation beneath them.
These uses bring different layout requirements. The structural design needed to accommodate the arrangement of the homes above while supporting functional commercial space at ground level.
Careful coordination of the frame and load paths helped reconcile those requirements. The hot-rolled steel frame provided flexibility in the structural layout, allowing the residential and commercial elements to be considered together as part of the overall building design.
The completed Vera Mitchell Building provides 122 private apartments alongside ground-floor commercial space in a well-connected Leicester location.
The scheme demonstrates how coordinated structural engineering can support mixed-use development within a constrained urban setting. By addressing the foundations, frame and relationship between uses together, Farrow Walsh helped the project team deliver a building suited to its location and purpose.
We are proud to have contributed to a development that adds new homes and commercial accommodation to the area, supporting its continued regeneration.
