CASE STUDY — COMMERCIAL
National Institute of Teaching
Facade scaffold with live entrance access for glass replacement works on an operational education building
The National Institute of Teaching is a government-backed teacher development organisation operating from a modern building with a large glazed facade. When glass replacement works were required on the upper facade, the scaffold had to be erected over the building's main entrance — the only public access point to a building that remained operational throughout the contract.
That single constraint defines the entire job. The scaffold had to provide safe, compliant working access to the glazed upper facade. And the front entrance below it had to stay open, with a protected pedestrian route through the scaffold for staff and visitors throughout.
The Challenge
Scaffolding over an active building entrance is one of the more demanding commercial access problems. The structure has to provide a stable, compliant working platform at facade level for the glazing team above. At the same time, the ground level below the scaffold has to remain accessible — staff and visitors arriving and leaving the building throughout the working day, with a pedestrian route that is safe, clearly signed, and maintains the dignity of the entrance rather than making the building feel like a construction site.
The glazed facade itself adds a further consideration. Any scaffold that contacts or bears against modern curtain wall glazing risks cracking or displacing the panels. Tie placement and the positioning of scaffold components near the glass required individual assessment to ensure the structure provided access to the facade without putting any load or pressure on the glazing panels being worked on or the ones adjacent to them.
Our Approach
Pinnacle erected a facade scaffold structure giving the glazing team full working access to the upper facade panels. A boarded overhead canopy was constructed at the base of the scaffold, spanning the full width of the entrance and providing a covered, protected pedestrian walkthrough that kept the front entrance open and safe throughout the contract.
The scaffold was designed to provide access to the glazed upper facade without any contact loads on the curtain wall panels. The entrance canopy was fully boarded and signed, maintaining safe public access below the working platform above.
RAMS documentation and method statements were provided before work began. Every operative held a current CISRS card.
KEY CREDENTIALS
What We Delivered
Commercial buildings that need to stay open during scaffold contracts require more planning than standard access jobs. The pedestrian management, the overhead protection, and the public liability considerations all have to be resolved before erection day — not on it. If you manage a commercial or institutional building requiring scaffold access while remaining operational, call us for a free site survey.