In September 2019, a gas explosion ripped through the block of flats in Edinburgh city centre causing extensive damage by removing the buildings’ top two floors.

To support primary contractor Redpath Construction with the reinstatement project, Enigma has erected a perimeter scaffold complete with a full encapsulated temporary roof. The Enigma in-house design team worked closely with the client to highlight the challenges of erecting a fully contained scaffold and a temporary roof with only a limited amount of the existing building available to tie in the scaffold. The provided solution enables Redpath Construction to rebuild the top two floors and fit a permanent slated roof without interfering with the methodology of reconstructing the building.

Due to the limited amount of existing walls at a high level available to secure the scaffold, Enigma’s in-house design team discussed various practical solutions with the client. To design and erect a scaffold to the building, that at the front and gable elevations go 10-metre high with limited areas to secure into the existing facade. The implemented design solution incorporated fitting a double-width scaffold to the front and gable elevations, along with a plan brace and ledger bracing to the outside bay. This solution provides the client with access to the inside working platform with very few restrictions. Additionally, double-band and plate ties were fitted to specific areas because of the potential risk of uplift to the scaffold structure caused by adverse weather conditions. Every HAKI standard fitting has been spliced together for safety using HAKI M16 locking pin and chains to further mitigate this risk.

Once the perimeter scaffold was erected, high-level aluminium truss beams were fitted, to enable the temporary roof installation. The roof beams were “Box tied” tight with puncheons to the truss beams. Before the temporary UBIX roof system was fitted onto the roof section and covered with weatherproof sheeting. The encapsulated scaffold and temporary roof enable the client to progress with unrestricted access and complete the reinstatement works, whilst protected from adverse weather conditions to ensure the project remains on schedule.