The new £20m Leicester Tigers hotel features a light steel frame and masonry façade built behind a fully encapsulated scaffold using our Van Thiel system, resulting in a seamless finish.

To ensure work could proceed regardless of weather conditions, we constructed a roof over the scaffold and façade. This method is advantageous for both steel and concrete framed buildings. Utilizing our telescopic transoms and hop-up brackets, the scaffold can be erected in 2-meter lifts in advance of the façade, thereby reducing construction time. This approach also allows for swift repositioning of hop-ups with no downtime for subsequent trades.

During the 23-month project, we encountered some challenges, such as limited space on site. To overcome this obstacle, we postponed construction of part of the underground car park to allow access to the rear of the building. Another hurdle was the need to provide design scaffolds to land and remove equipment during the steel and concrete works. Additionally, we had to construct a bespoke scaffolding inside a staircase to facilitate the delivery of bathroom pods to specific locations using a crane. In the atrium, we faced several obstacles, including the need to prop up the first level from the ground to support the full-height scaffold. This area also had a beamed deck at the top for ceiling works, which we executed using beams and electric winches.

Steve Fearnehough, Crossway MD, expressed pride in the achievement of his teams across the North and Midlands, citing the Leicester Tigers Hotel as further evidence of the trust placed in them by major clients during difficult times. As further proof of their proficiency, they recently received five best practice awards from their ISO 9001 audit.