Across the Project, One Hyde Park has adopted a collaborative approach, combining the skills and expertise of some of the best professionals in the architecture, art, design and construction industries. At the height of the project, more than 1,800 people will be working on the construction site. One Hyde Park is due to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Edinburgh Gate, providing access and egress to the Royal Park from Knightsbridge, has been relocated to the west side of the site, together with the restoration of the historic pavement line along Knightsbridge, and the relocation of the London Underground stairway to Knightsbridge Underground Station has maximised the development potential and the construction area of the site. Seventeen phases of works involving collaboration between a number of Highways Agencies, were completed on time, allowing the contractor to take possession of the full extended site.

A top-down construction methodology was used which offered significant programme benefits by overlapping the construction processes above and below ground, allowing excavations and construction works below ground to take place under cover and the superstructure above ground to proceed in parallel.

Below ground, four levels of basement, covering the entire site footprint, are excavated in two tier sections, each six metres high. The intermediate levels are then inserted into these double-height spaces as necessary. The lower two levels are primarily designated for residential stores and car parking, which are served by two car lifts from the entrance setting-down area. The upper two levels - comprising some double-height spaces - are occupied by residential and neighbouring Mandarin Oriental Hotel leisure facilities, central plant and the loading dock area, served by two truck lifts.

Following the casting of the ground floor slab, the superstructure works commenced in parallel with the excavation of the basements. Above ground, two levels of floor slabs were installed in approximately sixteen-day cycles – the two-storey perimeter pre-cast concrete columns being erected first, then the single storey in situ / pre-cast internal columns, prior to casting an intermediate level floor slab, then the next level of single-storey columns erected, followed by the next floor slab. Teams working in parallel on each of the four pavilions repeated this cycle. The delivery of the southern sections of Pavilions B and C was staggered, allowing the road realignment to be completed, at which point, these areas were progressed and rejoined the overall programme. The superstructure of all four pavilions took 14 months to construct.

For lateral stability to the pavilions, a total of 48, two-storey high, perimeter steel cross-braces are used - in the north-south orientation - across the whole development. These help to free up internal space permitting flexibility to the apartment configurations. The external visible structural elements to the pavilions are made from pre-cast concrete – containing crushed limestone aggregate together with a high content of mica, to create a stone-like appearance with light-reflecting quality that heightens the whiteness of these elements.

The façade system has been designed to a standard module, with the variance between pavilion size conforming exactly to a single façade module. A typical level façade system consists of triple glazing comprising an outer single pane, ventilated cavity containing an interstitial vertical roller blind, and an inner double glazed unit, all rigorously following the geometry of the pavilions. Once each level is watertight, installation of services and interior finishes can commence.

A mock-up of parts of an apartment was built in a warehouse in North London to give those working on the project a tangible view of the quality aspirations for the project as well as  addressing buildability issues. This established the quality benchmark ensuring that quality control is maintained across all 85 apartments within the development. The fit-out for each level of the development will take approximately 40 weeks to complete.

The core structures located in between the pavilions and at the ends, consist of steel components designed and engineered to bolt together. These prefabricated elements were fabricated in Switzerland to the highest degrees of accuracy and finish.