The former Walthamstow Greyhound Racing Stadium in East London decayed following its closure in 2008. The stadium returned to its former glory following the circa 100k restoration of its iconic facade. The bordering site also went through a complete change and received further development to include a new residential housing scheme. This included the much needed 300 homes for local residents.
The new homes of mixed tenure; the creation of community facilities and the addition of commercial units will enable the wider community to benefit from a new nursery; sports centre and potentially the employment opportunities these improvements to the area will bring.
Bordering the site is the River Ching. The Environment Agency identified this as an unsightly feature which required improvement. As a result, proposed the use of a gabion cladding system to face the steel sheet piling.
Enviromesh became involved in the project following an approach by HTA Architects in June 2015. HTA Architects introduced us to Tamdown Construction as they were keen to subcontract the works to a specialist. The first phase was for Enviromesh to provide budgetary costings to ensure the scheme was cost-effective. Enviromesh provided more detailed design drawings and following subsequent site visits with Tamdown. As a result, we drew up a final design and method statement to address the challenges including working at height and in changing water levels during the winter months.
GABION CLADDING INSTALLATION
Adjacent to the site is a steel sheet pile wall raising the overall levels above those of the River Ching. The Environment Agency identified the sheet piles as unsightly and requiring remedial works to improve their appearance. A gabion cladding proposal presented a more aesthetically pleasing façade.
Installation of the cladding was during the winter period with changing water levels. The challenge was to clad the piles, in the river within a four-week time frame. This type of construction meant typical cladding techniques were unfit.
Enviromesh engineered a cost-effective solution to carry the weight of the rock fill without disturbing the existing steel sheet piles. As a result, allowing for safe working.
Enviromesh designed and engineered a steel frame system to the full height of the sheet piling. This would enable rock-filled gabion cladding to be attached to the framework, thereby providing a uniform, aesthetically pleasing finished surface.
The lowermost basket formed an integral part of the frame system and was attached during manufacture. Each frame was then lowered in to place and bolted to the piling such that the first course would sit just below the waterline.
The first courses were immediately filled with gabion stone to ensure that the labourers were working safely above the waterline.
