Apollo Cradles were commissioned to provide external access by use of mast climbers & monorails to support the refurbishment of Broadcasting Towers, Leeds. The building is a student accommodation block and is 23 floors high. Whilst the building is fairly standard the south elevation had 5 changes of angle. Heavy duty monorails were also required to assist in the removal and reinstating of the façade panels.

In partnership with Metclad Contracts, Apollo co-developed a tailored execution programme to install mast climbers & monorails that would:

•  Reduce manual handling, by use of the Apollo monorails.
•  Minimise structural ties to the building.
•  Double stacking mast climber to reduce program time.

This seamless coordination reflected Apollo’s ethical & problem-solving leadership and low-impact delivery ethos to achieve the high standard the client required on this project.

Whilst most elevations were standard the South elevation was a particular challenge.

Faced with the challenge of the South elevation Apollo set to work with concept drawings, machine demonstration, critical testing and full engineering calculations.

As a result, Apollo were able to offer a bespoke mast climber solution for the South elevation.

The alternative was to use traditional scaffold which would have been detrimental to the project in terms of

• Cost
• Install & removal times / project programme
• Ties to the structure
• Underpropping