Portfolio
Stak Scaffold Partnered with GW Cootes
Associate Member
Harrods, Knightsbridge, London
Member: GW Coote Ltd
Client: Stak Scaffold Ltd
GWC Scaffolding Design partnered with Stak
Scaffolding who were employed by the Principal
Contractor, Restore London Ltd, and awarded
the project by Harrods – the world’s most famous
department store. The substantial maintenance
project started in October 2023 and is due for
completion in 2025.
The works are split into several phases that
include general repairs, a full clean and lighting
upgrades to the front elevation along Brompton
Rd, side elevations on Hans Cresent and Hans
Road, rear elevation along Basil Street, main
dome, and corner turrets. A further phase is the
construction of a roof-level extension.
The
scaffolding design also had to support the
installation of a full advertising wrap to preserve
the aesthetics of the building and generate
additional income to fund the extensive works.
One of the main challenges was to maintain
uninterrupted and unimpeded public comfort
and access, while accommodating obstacles such
as street furniture, bus stops, canopies &
awnings, phone boxes, pedestrian crossings,
narrow pavements & splays, and underground
tube entrances.
Due to the extreme level of pedestrian traffic,
the scaffold was built during the night and early
hours of the morning. This also helped in
securing all Kensington and Chelsea Borough
Council’s licences, LUL permissions and TFL’s
temporary suspensions of bus lanes and red
route permits. Since noise pollution is a big issue
in Knightsbridge, Stak Scaffold took the decision
not to use standard drills. Despite the
restrictions, Stak delivered to the highest
standard and on schedule, without
compromising safety.
The world-renowned window displays at
Harrods had to be kept visible at all times, so
the design included support towers erected
adjacent to the building columns and beamed
above the windows to support the scaffold on
top. This proved to be a demanding task
because the basement structures and vaults had
been modified extensively throughout the
building’s 175 years, along with the 7 floors
below ground, so finding suitable strongholds
for the support towers was not straightforward.
After close collaboration with the project’s TWC
and Harrods’ structural and geotechnical
engineers, the solution comprised a mix of back
propping, very large bridge spans, and
cantilevers.
Being a Grade II listed building, attention to
detail was imperative and required consultations
with English Heritage. The main façade is made
of thousands of individual terracotta blocks,
which are extremely brittle. Any repairs must be
performed with meticulous care, using materials
made from the original quarries and supplied by
a few very rare hand-pressing manufacturers.
Installing the scaffold ties was a complex
operation, as there was a need to protect the
terracotta, so they had to be installed into mortar joints or into previous tie holes, as no
additional drilling was permitted.
The terracotta blocks offer very limited tensile
strength for the ties so, in certain areas
throughout the building, a bespoke reusable
anchor point was designed within the
superstructure to withstand 6 tonnes (60kN).
This was to ensure that there would be suitable
fixing points for all future works and
maintenance, also taking into consideration any
potential hoist loadings.
This is the second time that GWC Scaffolding
Design has had the privilege of providing scaffold
designs for the iconic Harrods building. All those
involved are proud to have delivered a quality
solution that maintains the authenticity of a
listed building, protects the safety of the public,
and ensures business as usual during the busiest
shopping seasons.
