We were appointed as scaffold design consultants for a highly complex access scaffold at LSO St Luke’s Church in Old Street, London. The historic Grade I listed building, which serves as a music venue for the London Symphony Orchestra, required conservation and maintenance works. Our role was to provide full scaffold design services for a safe, non-invasive access solution to both the low-level building and the prominent spire and clocktower.
The scaffold design featured a full perimeter freestanding access scaffold to the base structure, with no ties into the historic fabric. Stability was achieved through a series of engineered buttress frames and strategic bridging elements. We also designed a full-height wraparound scaffold to the spire and clocktower, enabling safe access for inspection, repair, and cleaning works at height.
Given the sensitivity of the structure and the uneven load-bearing capacity of the surrounding ground, we developed a complex network of bridge support frames beneath the entire scaffold area. These were carefully engineered to distribute loads to designated foundation points, avoiding any overstress to the existing building or substructure.
Full bespoke scaffold design package including detailed 2D construction drawings, complete 3D model and structural calculations covering both the perimeter freestanding scaffold and the full-height spire access. The design resolved zero-tie stability through engineered buttress frames and sub-scaffold bridge beams, coordinated throughout with the conservation team, scaffold contractor and main contractor.