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Completed commercial tower with curtain wall facade in an urban setting
CompletedCommercial2023Sample record

Kathmandu Commercial Tower

A 14-storey commercial building with three basement levels on a constrained inner-city plot, delivered on a design-build basis with a fixed seven-day floor cycle.

Project data

Client
[Sample] Private Property Developer
Location
Kathmandu, Bagmati Province
Sector
Commercial
Contract type
Design-build (single-point responsibility)
Duration
31 months
Completion
Completed · 2023
Contract value
[Sample] NPR 2.4 billion

Scope of work

  • Three-level basement with secant pile retaining wall and dewatering
  • 14-storey RCC frame with shear-wall core
  • Unitised curtain wall and rainscreen facade
  • MEP coordination, riser installation and system commissioning
  • Core-and-shell delivery with two phased tenant fit-outs
The challenge

What made this difficult.

  • 01

    The plot had zero setback on two boundaries, with occupied buildings immediately adjacent to the excavation.

  • 02

    Deliveries were restricted to a night window by municipal traffic rules, limiting concrete supply hours.

  • 03

    Groundwater was encountered 4 m above the lowest basement slab level.

The engineering solution

What we did about it.

  • 01

    A secant pile wall with pre-installed anchors replaced open-cut excavation, removing the need for adjacent-property access.

  • 02

    Adjacent structures were instrumented with settlement and tilt monitoring, reviewed daily against defined trigger levels.

  • 03

    Concrete supply was reorganised around a night-pour regime with a dedicated batching allocation and on-site standby generator.

  • 04

    A perimeter cut-off and staged dewatering with recharge wells controlled groundwater without drawing down neighbouring wells.

Key outcomes

  • Floor cycle

    7 days

    Maintained from level 3 upward

  • Gross floor area

    [Sample] 32,000 m²

  • Adjacent settlement

    Within limits

    Below defined trigger throughout

  • Handover

    On contract date

Safety performance

  • Full perimeter hard barricading and covered walkway maintained for public footpath
  • Daily monitoring readings on all adjacent structures with defined stop-work triggers
  • Independently certified lifting plans for all tower crane operations
  • Night-work lighting assessment and dedicated banksman coverage

Sustainability measures

  • Excavated material screened and re-used, reducing off-site disposal trips
  • Formwork system selected for 40+ reuse cycles, cutting timber consumption
  • Site water recycled for wheel washing and dust suppression
  • Facade specification improved to reduce operational cooling demand
Project gallery

During construction.

Secant pile retaining wall exposed during basement excavation
Secant pile retaining wall exposed during basement excavation
Reinforced concrete core and slab formwork during the floor cycle
Reinforced concrete core and slab formwork during the floor cycle
Curtain wall unit being installed from a mast climber
Curtain wall unit being installed from a mast climber
Completed lobby during final finishing works
Completed lobby during final finishing works
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