CASE STUDY — INDUSTRIAL AND SOLAR
Martin-Baker Aircraft, Denham Aerodrome
Large-scale solar panel scaffold and industrial access on a live operational airfield for one of the world's leading aerospace defence manufacturers
Martin-Baker Aircraft Company is one of the most significant aerospace defence manufacturers in the world. Founded in 1934, the company invented the ejector seat and its life-saving equipment is used by air forces in over 90 countries. Their operations are based at Denham Aerodrome near Uxbridge — a live, operational airfield with active flight operations, defence manufacturing facilities, and the security and access protocols that come with both.
Pinnacle was appointed to provide scaffold access across the Martin-Baker site at Denham for a large-scale solar panel installation programme across multiple industrial roof areas, as well as internal industrial scaffold within the facility's plant and machinery spaces.
The Challenge
Working on a live operational airfield is categorically different to any standard commercial or industrial scaffold contract. Denham Aerodrome has active flight operations. Every element of site access, vehicle movement, erection sequencing, and working at height has to be assessed and agreed within the airfield's own safety management framework, not just against standard construction regulations. Security clearance, site induction, and ongoing access management are part of the daily routine for every operative on the contract.
The scale of the solar installation added a further dimension. The industrial roof areas at the Martin-Baker site are substantial — large spans of industrial cladding with the roof access and edge protection requirements of commercial solar installations at scale. The solar panels visible in the photographs cover significant roof areas across multiple buildings on the site.
The internal scaffold — visible in the plant room photographs — required a completely different approach. Working inside an active industrial facility with pressurised pipework, insulated process equipment, and operational machinery means every scaffold structure has to be designed around what is already there, with no margin for contact with live systems.
Our Approach
Pinnacle managed all site access, security induction, and vehicle movement in accordance with the Martin-Baker and Denham Aerodrome site protocols throughout the contract. Every operative held a current CISRS card and had completed the required site inductions before beginning work.
Flat roof edge protection and working access scaffold was erected across the industrial roof areas to allow the solar installation team to complete their programme safely and to Working at Height Regulations standard. The panels were signed off and handed over section by section as the installation programme progressed.
The internal industrial scaffold was designed individually around the plant room configuration, providing safe working access to the machinery and pipework requiring maintenance without contact with any live systems or operational equipment. RAMS documentation and method statements were provided for both the external and internal elements of the contract before work began.
KEY CREDENTIALS
What We Delivered
An operational airfield with active defence manufacturing is among the most demanding industrial scaffold environments we have worked in. The site access protocols, the security requirements, and the requirement to work around live operational machinery and flight operations simultaneously require a contractor who plans thoroughly and executes precisely. We did.
If you manage an industrial site, defence facility, or operational airfield with scaffold requirements, call us to discuss your programme.