The Gherkin is one of London’s most iconic buildings, and we had the opportunity to provide a unique scaffolding design to replace the building maintenance unit hydraulic arm at roof level. This required a rolling cantilevered scaffold platform to be placed at the roof level, with the new arm to be delivered by helicopter lift.
Designing at the very top of one of London’s most recognisable structures demanded an exceptionally precise engineering approach. The rolling cantilevered platform had to be stable under dynamic loading from the helicopter operation, while causing zero disruption to the building’s occupants or the public below. Every element of the design was coordinated with the helicopter lift sequence.
Full structural design for the rolling cantilevered platform including 2D construction drawings, 3D model and calculations covering dynamic helicopter loading, wind exposure at roof level, and rolling mechanism tolerances. The BMU hydraulic arm was replaced via a single helicopter lift with zero disruption to the building’s 5,000 daily occupants or the public below.