Installation & High-Level Cleaning at Discovery Quay, Salford

Discovery Quay Is Set to House up to 400 Students

With the property being 10,325sqft across two tower blocks, it is a new landmark to add into the ever-expanding local Salford skyline. The finished building will also provide a coffee shop, library, lounge and more.

Construction reached the point where the project’s Main Contractors, Create Construction, required Working at Height specialists to assist them with installing various systems for the higher levels and roof of the building.

The Systems

The building required various systems to make it safe for Working at Height personnel to use. As the building is residential, it will require regular maintenance and repairs, meaning there will be a necessity for Roof Access. There will also be a requirement for High-Level Cleaning, meaning Rope Access Systems had to be taken into consideration. Heightsafe decided that the following solutions would be implemented:

230m of Abseil Rail
5nr Access Ladders
120m of Fixed Guardrail
Roofing Walkway
Rope Access Building Clean

Heightsafe prepared designs and plans for each of these solutions. The works required the joint involvement of the Installation, Compliance Testing and Rope Access Maintenance departments. As a result, the different divisions coordinated the project between themselves to ensure all systems were installed to the highest standard.

Installation

Once the planning was completed, Heightsafe moved into the installation phase. The first system that needed installing were the Guardrails. These were installed across Level 11 and the roof of the building. When Install personnel arrived, there were some existing Edge Protection barriers in place already, but the quality of them were did not meet Heightsafe’s standards. As a result, they were removed and replaced with a new system.

Once the Guardrails had been installed the Roofing Walkway, Abseiling Anchor Points and the Abseil Systems were also installed around the edge of the roof. Access to the roof for the installation of the systems was given via a Cherry Picker, which reached as high as Level 11 of the building. These systems would provide Rope and Roof Access for the High-Level Cleaning personnel. Five Aluminium Access Ladders with a walkthrough platform and spreader bars were also installed at the same time as the Abseil System.

Following the installation of these systems, they were all tested for Compliance. Once they passed, they were certified and tagged, meaning they were safe to use. The previously installed Abseil Monorail was also retested to BS 6037 regulations, 6 months after the system’s previous inspection. The System was found to be safely fixed to the Monorail and passed without any issues.

High-Level Cleaning Using Rope Access

The final phase before project handover was the High-Level Cleaning of the building’s external Façade. Rope Access Maintenance personnel used the Monorail System and newly installed Abseil Anchor Points and slowly worked their way down each side of the building. Heightsafe cleaned the following sections of the External Envelope;

Wall Cladding
Louvres
Windows
Doors
Roofs
Curtain-Walling
Under-croft
Draught Lobby

The Building Is Now Equipped with a Façade Access System

The new state-of-the-art Roof Walkway, Guardrails, Access Ladders and Abseil Rail Systems were installed and tagged, meaning that Working at Height personnel are safe and protected for the foreseeable future.

The building’s exterior is now completely clean, thanks to Heightsafe’s industry-leading High-Level Cleaning services. The level of precision and effort that goes into the cleaning has been difficult for competitors to match, due to the extensive experience and commitment from Heightsafe personnel in the Rope Access Maintenance divison. Now the project handover has been initiated, Create Construction can move their focus towards the interior work for the building, as Heightsafe have provided the finishing touches to the external Façade and Roof.