GSHP Drilling for Care Home Facility in Bedfordshire

We supported the delivery of a low-carbon heating solution for a care home, overcoming geological challenges with a tailored borehole setup.

Services Provided

We specialise in GSHP-ready borehole drilling for complex and commercial-scale projects. For this care home development in Bedfordshire, we delivered 12 boreholes customised to address the challenging potential artesian groundwater conditions of the site - supporting the client’s wider rollout of heat pumps and solar across new and existing care home sites.

Project Details

This project involved drilling 12 vertical boreholes to a depth of 160m, forming the ground array for a 90kW ground source heat pump system providing heating, hot water and cooling for the property.

During the feasibility stage, we identified a high artesian groundwater risk on site, which required a proactive approach to water management during drilling.

To address this, we modified our grouting method to include a clay swelling plug at the top of each borehole. This provided an effective seal during drilling and added a long-term safeguard against future artesian activity, supporting the overall resilience of the system.

Delivery was carried out using Onsen’s RAMS-ready procedures, ensuring minimal site disruption, clean drilling operations and on-time handover for GSHP installation.

Key Metrics

• Boreholes Drilled: 12
• Borehole Depth: 160m
• System Capacity: 90kW

Project Outcomes

• Low disruption: Drilling was completed without disruption to surrounding areas or other works on site.
• Risk mitigation: Our grout design specifically addressed artesian risk - protecting both the site and the GSHP system long term.
• On schedule: Works were completed within the scheduled drilling window.
• Future-ready: The adapted borehole design ensures long-term resilience, supporting the client’s strategy to roll out low-carbon heating and solar across its growing portfolio of care homes.

Quote from Onsen

“This is exactly the type of project where our experience makes the difference. By identifying the artesian risk early and adapting the grout spec with a clay swelling plug, we worked with the design team to deliver a clean, GSHP-ready solution without disruption or delay. It’s a smart, resilient design that will serve this site for years to come.”