Layher supplies highest freestanding scaffold

Layher has completed the highest freestanding scaffold in the UK at The Heron in central London. Layher was chosen by scaffolding contractor Connect Scaffolding to provide a system that would be able to support the movement of some 300 construction workers and a vast range of construction materials repeatedly each day, to an eventual height of 115m above ground level.

A hoist tower has been erected using the Layher Allround scaffolding system to provide anchoring points for the double passenger and goods hoists mechanism and to create access to each floor.

The scaffold structure sees conventional Layher ties fixed to the concrete core at each level, with the hoist tower itself tied to the scaffolding at 12m intervals and with the Layher decking system used also adding structural strength.

Main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine Limited developed a ‘Steel Tie Beam' to integrate the hoist system with the Allround tower to further modified the system for the site.

"The use of the hoist on such a high structure generates significant loadings, so the tie-in bracket was developed specifically for the hoist design to enhance the inherent strength of the Layher Allround system," explained Connect Scaffolding's managing director, Oliver Cave.

The 36-storey Heron will house 285 apartments as well as a theatre and concert hall for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.