Protecting the Entrance and the Public

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Introduction

Protecting the public is an essential requirement when working on a chimney 99m above ground. This is even more important when you are the Tate Gallery, who welcome up to five million visitors a year. AGS Scaffolding were commissioned to facilitate these safeguards by scaffolding and hoarding around the entrances to the gallery whilst some enabling works were being carried out to the chimney above

Project

As an initial part of the Gallery’s £215m expansion plans, AGS worked with the Tate to provide a functional and aesthetically pleasing structure to focus the visitor’s eye on the entrance, whilst affording them all the protection that would be required whilst the chimney works were taking place above. Eventually the new development will integrate the new with the existing building and contribute to the local environment by opening up a new North/South route from the Millennium Bridge through the building to Southwark.

Solution

AGS constructed and designed a scaffolding backbone before facing the framework with battening and 18mm waterproof WBP plywood to give a flat, simple, engineered and extremely robust structure. The external face was finally painted and with all the graphics applied, the hoarding and the securing scaffold looked every bit the part whilst camouflaging it’s true purpose.

Conclusion

AGS are pleased to have been a part of this scheme and look forward to having a role in the major expansion plans of such an iconic institution

Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said: “We are delighted that Herzog & de Meuron’s revised plans have been granted approval by Southwark Council. We look forward to creating one of the most exciting cultural buildings in Europe which will bring direct benefits to Southwark and London as a whole.”