Contractors Willmott Dixon, leading on the build of a new community centre and affordable housing development have enlisted the support of Bilco UK to enable access and facilitate crucial ongoing maintenance works on site.

The London Borough of Brent appointed Willmott Dixon to lead on the £17.3m Brent Indian Centre project, which involved demolition of an existing building to be replaced with a new community facility and 29 affordable homes.

The new community centre development includes a large multi-purpose hall, commercial kitchen, offices and an IT training room, enabling the Brent Indian Community to offer computer classes, drop-in sessions, language lessons, youth camps and daily Hindu worship sessions to the local community.

In line with a major new development offering such a wide range of services, sustainability is at the forefront of the community buildings, with both centres featuring Solar PV panels and Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery system.

Going forward, access to air-conditioning and air source heat pump units located on the roof of the building will be required to ensure the smooth operation of these crucial components in the day-to-day operation of the building.

When contractors need to travel across the roof for maintenance and access reasons, it can be a challenge to navigate the roof safely if there are potential trip hazards such as wires and ducting.

Having worked with Bilco UK on providing access solutions across several Wilmott Dixon projects over the past five years, Willmott Dixon Senior Building Manager, Iain Charnley approached our team to provide support.

Bilco UK manufactures a range of bolted, aluminium stepover ladders that can be seamlessly fitted over obstructions, providing a stable hand-railed platform that enables individuals to get from one area of the roof to another safely and quickly.

Compliant with Work at Height Regulations and where applicable BS 5395-3: 1985, our stepover units provide flexible access over a range of widths and heights while always keeping the operative enclosed by a handrail on both sides.

The bolted stepover ladder is available in free-standing or fixed to the roof options to provide permanent, safe access.

On this occasion, it was deemed that the Stepover Ladder was an ideal product from a functionality perspective, but a bespoke solution was needed to fit the specific logistical requirements of the project, so the Willmott Dixon team consulted with Bilco UK on how to make this happen.

Bilco UK has vast experience in manufacturing our products in bespoke sizes according to all manner of required applications, so were able to quickly put forward proposals for a suitable solution.

The Brent Indian Centre project fell into the bracket defined as a constrained site, making creative logistical thinking crucial to the success of the project.

The three-way stepover ladder is now on site and allowing for safe access to crucial services when required.