Southbank Place is a joint venture between Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar. The large Thames-side development sits opposite Big Ben and Houses of Parliament, as well as the London Eye, and is minutes away from Waterloo mainline station.

The photographs show the stunning location of the development.

Both Integral Cradles and maintenance partner GIND UK have been heavily involved in this project, working on buildings 1,2 6 and 7. Integral Cradles overcame a number of design challenges during the project, employing building information modelling (BIM) to find the ideal solution. The installation of multiple BMUs was completed in January 2021, with all machines delivered under warranty.

GIND UK is delivering fully comprehensive maintenance contracts with CBRE, WeWork and Canary Wharf Management for the BMUs.

The Scalpel is a commercial skyscraper in the City of London and the European headquarters of insurance company W.R. Berkley. It will be the company’s European headquarters. Originally a nickname, the “Scalpel” was coined by the Financial Times as the official name due to the building’s unique, angular shape and following a trend for naming new buildings in the city based on their shape. Other examples are the Leadenhall Building, also known as “The Cheesegrater” and 30 St Mary’s Axe, also known as “The Gherkin”. Integral Cradles has provided bespoke access solutions for these iconic buildings and more.

The Scalpel is 190 metres tall, offers 35 levels of office space, over 500,000 square feet of commercial space and over 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The skyscraper takes up its position in the city alongside The Gherkin and The Cheesegrater, contributing to one of the most recognised skylines in the world. The steel-framed structure is built with a reinforced concrete core.

There are three levels of roof plant space, levels 36 & 37 being enclosed and 38+ within the roof attic. Integral Cradles’ expert engineers were called upon to design and install the two complex BMUs, as well as a series of intricate moving roofs to house them, at The Scalpel (52 Lime Street), which enable the safe and easy storage of this access equipment.

Designing and installing the world’s largest building maintenance units

Mounted permanently at roof level, a BMU is the safest and most comprehensive type of suspended access system, providing full lateral, horizontal and vertical movement of the working platform. BMUs are automatic, remote controlled or mechanical devices which carry window washing operatives or mechanical robots to maintain or clean the covered surfaces.

Units range from small, simple devices used by a single operative to larger outreach units used on high-rise buildings. The solution designed and installed at The Scalpel reaches a whole new level.

The two BMUs are eight storeys tall – approximately the height of ten cars stacked one on top of the other. They are installed on either side of The Scalpel, on the east and west elevations. The unit installed on the west side of the building is the larger of the two. It has a 19-metre operating radius, is 49 metres in height, weighs 41,300 kg and has a 1,000-kg glass replacement capacity.

The unit on the east of the building has a 13.935m operating radius, is 24.5 metres high, weighs 36,800 kg and has a 100-kg glass replacement capacity.

The BMUs were manufactured by Integral Cradles’ partner, GinD, based in Spain’s capital, Madrid. On completion of the build of the two units, they were transported to a holding facility in Kent for assembly. At the same time, the units were rigorously tested prior to being delivered to 52 Lime Street.

Extra innovation

In a separate contract, which almost doubled the value of the total order, Skanska asked Integral Cradles to work on an innovative roof system for each BMU. On the larger unit to the west of the building, Integral Cradles’ engineers designed and constructed a five-panel louvre roof system. Each panel moves independently out of the way of the BMU, enabling it to be operated and then stored away neatly within the building.

The east BMU was designed with a roof panel comprising photovoltaic cells, which move and slide in tandem with the unit’s operation. The cells provide renewable energy for the building, a valuable extra benefit of the system.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) was used by Integral Cradles’ designers and engineers throughout the project at The Scalpel. This enabled any problems to be detected and resolved quickly and easily with the use of 3-dimensional imagery. The digital modelling and information for the BMUs produced via BIM were used as part of the training process to show the client how to operate the units.

Partnership between Integral Cradles and Skanska

Integral Cradles and Skanska have worked collaboratively for a number of years and enjoy an exceptional partnership working ethos. On this project, Skanska and Foster & Partners contracted Integral Cradles to design, manufacture and install innovative access equipment for the prestigious Norman Foster-designed “Gherkin” at 30 St Mary’s Axe. The exterior cladding of the building consists of approximately 5,500 flat triangular and diamond shaped glass panels, which vary in size at each level. This presented a challenge that many considered too difficult. Not Integral Cradles.

The solution uses many disciplines in ‘moving technology’ including conductor bar transfers, track transfers and sophisticated control systems. Among the many features are a lifting table and hydraulic arm installed below the restaurant floor on level 40, three suspended trolleys and platforms and a rescue trolley hidden away in a garage on level 36. These emerge only when required, navigating the circumference of the building on an exterior track.

Following on from the success of the main contract, a further contract was awarded for the design and supply of the glass replacement unit. Interfacing with the permanent access cradles was critical in negotiating the building’s 160-metre-high unique ‘torpedo’ shape. The equipment has to ‘hug’ the profile of the building, whilst removing and installing 400kg glass panels using vacuum technology.

The end product is a market-leading access solution that has stood the test of time on this iconic building.

The Scalpel – a new icon in the City of London’s famous skyline

The Scalpel became fully operational in summer 2018. Integral Cradles undertook the testing and commissioning of the two BMUs over a period of around eight weeks, before completion.

A major interface was established between Integral Cradles and the company that provided the cladding for The Scalpel to provide a long-term facilities management solution for the skyscraper. A positive outcome of this is that no crane will be required by the client to access the exterior of the building, which would have been a major investment, both logistically and financially. Instead, Integral Cradles will service the two BMUs.

The Scalpel takes its place in the City of London, amongst several other iconic buildings, as a monument to what is possible in the field of architecture and construction. A commercial building of this size and scale involves a wide range of service and maintenance considerations and the two BMUs designed and installed by Integral Cradles are an integral part of its successful future.

London Wall Place is a development designed by MAKE architects for joint owners: Brookfield/Oxford Properties comprises 2 buildings.

1 London Wall Place is a 310,000 square-foot, 12-storey building pre-let to Schroders Plc, while 2 London Wall Place is a 190,000 square-foot, 16-storey tower; floors 12-16 were pre-let to international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

Integral Cradles was awarded the contract by Multiplex Construction to provide a total of five façade access systems: four BMUs and one monorail.

BMUs were designed to be concealed when parked, which required an innovative design to fit the tight parking spaces.

• Four telescopic BMUs
• One screw-jack lift table
• One soffit suspended monorail system
• Multiplex/Make Architects/WSP
• Brookfield Asset Management/Schroders
• Installation: 2016

At One Blackfriars Tower, Integral Cradles delivered a complex, multiple access solution. One Blackfriars Tower, known as The Vase due to its shape, is a mixed-use development in Bankside, London, which was completed in 2018. The already iconic building is made up of a 52-storey tower up to 170 metres in height and two smaller buildings of six and four storeys. It houses 247 luxury apartments and was inspired by a piece of 1950’s art: a Scandinavian glass vessel from the architect’s private collection.

Each skyscraper requires its own unique access system and The Vase is no exception. Integral Cradles installed three building maintenance units, which were fitted to integrate with the building’s moving doors – also designed and supplied by Integral Cradles, to carry the intricate cladding panels and mask the garage area. This allows the BMUs to be concealed without any visual sign of the systems.

Since 2015, Integral Cradles worked at the site in close collaboration with the client, WSP, and Multiplex, to deliver the finished building. This included sharing 3D models to determine how to prevent the main BMU, which was housed in the rooftop structure, from intruding on the penthouse space. The model allowed the team to fully understand the space and reduce the size of the BMU to a more compact unit.

One Blackfriars tower has been described as a magnificent addition to the London skyline, creating a unique and luxurious base for its residents. Integral Cradles is proud of the part it has played in its creation, the value of which was maximised by the successful working relationship with all stakeholders.

In this project we removed and replaced the BMUs on the iconic HSBC Tower, located at 8 Canada Square.

Working with MACE, Overbury and HSBC, we removed the existing redundant equipment and replaced it with two newly manufactured units. They were installed and commissioned without the use of a tower crane, but assembled through the building without any disruption to the day-to-day workings of this live building.

We secured this prestigious order in December 2012 to provide all the bespoke access systems on the Rogers Stirk Harbour designed Leadenhall Tower. This is one of the iconic buildings in London’s Square Mile for British Land and Oxford Properties and is yet another high-profile, high-quality scheme that we secured for contractor Laing O’Rourke following on from the successful completion of the projects at Merchant Square and One Hyde Park.

The tapering 610,000 square-foot development stands 47 storeys and 736 ft (224m) high. We provided two telescopic BMUs, with several bespoke cradles ranging from 3m to 9m and the capacity to lift glass up to 2000kg.

Using multi-dimensional Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, we devised an innovative delivery strategy that harnessed the benefits of off-site storage and pre-assembly. This “virtual construction” approach allowed the client to visualise our solution in intricate detail. Our 3D model of the BMU combined key information for the ongoing maintenance and life cycle of the systems resulting in the lifting and assembly installation being completed within just six days.

We secured this prestigious order in December 2012 to provide a bespoke access system on the Broadway Maylan Architects-designed St George Wharf Tower.

The project is the tallest solely residential tower in the UK and is yet another high-profile scheme that we secured for contractor Brookfield Multiplex following on from the successful completion of Strata Tower.

This solely residential development made up of 52 storeys, is 185m tall and houses 212 luxury apartments. It is the tallest of its kind in the UK. We provided one telescopic building maintenance unit with the capacity to lift glass up to 550 kg.

The BMU equipment has been installed upon a unique freely-laid system that encompasses noise-reducing elements, required to satisfy reduced noise levels due to the installation being in close proximity to the Penthouse.

The BMU was designed to fit in the roof-top parking garage enabling the equipment to be protected from the elements when not in use.