Scaffolding
The Project
The Chalcots Estate in Camden, North West London, underwent a major safety enhancement project, with Blashford Tower being the focus of the main works.
Blashford Tower comprises 72 flats over 19 storeys and is one of five high rise towers that form the estate. Camden Council awarded contractor GRAHAM the £22m design and build contract to deliver the tower's recladding and fire safety improvements.
This project was part of Camden Council's commitment to delivering a new standard of safety for residents. The works involved extensive design and testing to determine the most effective safety improvements, followed by the installation of an A1-rated cladding system, curtain wall, new windows, and brickwork replacement at the underground level.
The Millcroft Solution
Millcroft was contracted to provide essential logistics gantries and scaffolding to create a vital distribution route. This also ensured safe access to the accommodation site for workers.
Our scope of works involved the design and erection of a heavy duty gantry extending from the face of Blashford Tower towards the site welfare facility. Additionally, the scaffolding spread from the Adelaide Medical Centre adjacent to Blashford Tower, ensuring access to the centre was maintained throughout the project. Works also included a full-height Layher staircase to the north courtyard and hoist run off tower with stair access to the south courtyard.
The project posed several challenges for Millcroft's team, due to the tower's location adjacent to the railway, tight site constraints and limited storage space. The site was a live environment, with residents remaining in the tower until work on their respective floor levels began; at this point, they were moved to temporary accommodation. Furthermore, the pedestrian ramp along the tower's east side had to remain clear at all times as it provided vital access to the medical centre.
The tower's location adjacent to Network Rail tracks at the bottom of a densely vegetated slope required careful consideration. A ground investigation was carried out to assess the slope's stability and to confirm its capacity to withstand the additional force and loads imposed by the gantry and scaffolding. As the scaffolding was being erected on Network Rail land, we had to gain approval from Network Rail on our proposed design before we could begin work.