A Very Different Hoarding

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Introduction

The Monument, one of the City of London’s most outstanding landmarks and visitor attractions, closed on 30 July 2007 for a substantial programme of improvements and repairs. The project, funded by the City of London Corporation, involved the cleaning and repair of Sir Christopher Wren’s Monument’s stonework and the re-gilding of it’s famous golden orb. The flame-topped Monument to the Great Fire of 1666 is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. Completed in 1677, The Monument stands 202 ft high and is positioned 202 ft from the spot in Pudding Lane on which the Great Fire is believed to have started. Every year, over 100,000 visitors climb the 311 spiral steps to the Monument’s observation gallery to enjoy unique and exhilarating views across the Capital.

Project

In order to protect the Monument and to provide both working space and a storage area whilst the renovations were carried out a completely freestanding hoarding needed to be erected. The requirement was for a structure that was not fixed to anything at all, other than itself. The hoarding had to fill the roles of being substantial, safe, secure and remain in place for up to 18 months

Solution

The Monument project started by AGS understanding exactly what their client required and developing a workable scheme to include all of their needs. Working with Cathedral Works, AGS designed a simple structure that was solid and substantial enough; to give an enclosure for the renovation works to take place within, that protected the existing York Stone Paving and Street Furniture while it offered complete protection to the public and was visibly appealing.

Conclusion

AGS were delighted to be offered this opportunity to develop a straightforward and effective method of providing a hoarding to such a prestigious renovation project. As can be seen from the photographs there was nothing complicated about the finished hoarding, it performed as designed and expected. Even when it was cleared away no one would ever have known that such a sturdy structure had been there. Simply, it worked.

“AGS did a great job, in fact probably more than was required including coming up with the idea of using the barrels filled with sand and water as a kentledge” Gary Collings, Site Manager, Cathedral Works Organisation