AMBAR KELLY RISES TO THE OCCASION ON HIGH-PROFILE PROJECT

Ambar Kelly’s RiserSafe® system proved indispensable during the refurbishment and extension of 1 Triton Square, London, for one of the UK’s premier property developers, British Land.

Located in the Regent’s Place mixed-use scheme, the 1 Triton Square project involved a complete renovation of the existing five floors, a modification of the central atrium plus the creation of an additional three floors to the original 1980s structure.

The requirements

Capitalising on this prime location, the existing building has been stripped back to the original concrete and steel frame, with three levels constructed on top, increasing the height of the building to eight stories.

The riser zone solution had to be flexible, well designed, manufactured off site and installed to a strict programme; whilst protecting the operational workforce from the risks of falling from height, and acting as a fire barrier to the spread of smoke and flame during construction.

The order

Ambar Kelly worked in partnership with main contractor Lendlease, contractors William Hare Ltd and T Clarke Plc, and architects Arup Associates on this project, designing and supplying 530 RiserSafe® units.

Working closely with Andrew Hunting, Project Manager of Lendlease and the William Hare team led by Senior Project Manager, Nuno Marques, Ambar Kelly designed, manufactured and supplied RiserSafe® to all four cores on all levels.

William Hare Ltd ordered £769,000 of RiserSafe® units, selecting Ambar Kelly’s bespoke system for its ease of installation and protective properties. The system is highly adaptable, innovative and can deal with a variety of existing site conditions.

Ambar Kelly was able to utilise both 3D and 2D modelling to accurately design the RiserSafe® units, collating information including site surveys of the existing riser openings (provided by William Hare) and Mechanical and Electrical (MEP) service information (provided by T Clarke).

The challenges

There were unique and complicated challenges during this project, not usually observed when creating new-builds. Understanding the existing site conditions was one challenge during the design phase. Steel members within the existing structure were at varying heights, meaning each side of the RiserSafe® units needed different manufacturing details, so that the units remained level and at the correct height when installed.

The riser openings were also irregular in shape; triangles and trapezoids rather than squares and rectangles. As such, these were often too large to transport in one complete piece. Ambar Kelly used an innovative clip system, allowing the units to be transported in sections and subsequently craned into position and clipped together once landed. This made site installation easy and increased the speed of the build.

A further challenge was the interface between RiserSafe® units and the fire boarding ‘rock wool’ that needed to completely encase the steel structure within the riser. Ambar Kelly collaborated with BDL dry lining to create a manufacturing detail which would allow RiserSafe® to be installed. As well as this, the detail would provide sufficient access to install the fire boarding, whilst still maximising the free area in the riser zone to accommodate the MEP services.

The sheer number of units required was another hurdle on this project. William Hare required RiserSafe® to be manufactured in a continuous cycle, going around the cores within the building to keep up with their steel erection programme.

Going above and beyond

On regular occasions, up to six levels worth of RiserSafe® units required delivering in a single week. Ambar Kelly worked closely with all contractors at weekly meetings, made regular site visits and planned factory capacity to deal with the substantial volume of work to keep up with such demands.

Ambar Kelly was able to provide RiserSafe® to accommodate all the challenges in one adaptable solution. A complex, high-profile project, the presence of Ambar Kelly’s RiserSafe® solution will ensure occupant safety and property protection for many years to come.