Surveyors House
Styles Façade Solutions® (formerly Thomann-Hanry®) was selected to conduct a commercial building facade survey of Surveyors House, giving the RICS facilities team a clear understanding of structural concerns across the listed building to inform their planned maintenance schedule. Given the prominent location and strict security restrictions near Parliament Square, scaffolding and drones were both ruled out, so the team used MEWPs to inspect, photograph and record all elevations in close detail.
Working at height also allowed the team to remove or make safe any loose masonry, protecting the significant pedestrian traffic below.
The full inspection across three elevations was completed in under two days, with a detailed, illustrated report presented to RICS within a few weeks.
Solutions provided
SURVEYING THE SURVEYORS IN WESTMINSTER
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) was founded in London at the Institute of Surveyors in 1868 with the aim of promoting and enforcing the highest international standards in the valuation, management and development of real estate and infrastructure. In 1947, the professional body was granted a Royal Charter, which has allowed RICS to evolve into the premier global regulatory body operating in nearly 150 countries.
Surveyors House is home to RICS. It is a historically important Grade II listed building overlooking Parliament Square, the Palace of Westminster and The Supreme Court. It was built to the designs of architect Alfred Waterhouse in a Jacobean style mixed with Flemish Renaissance and Gothic verticality. starting construction in 1896 and opening in 1898. The red brick and Portland stone façade has elevations along Great George Street, Little George Street and Little Sanctuary.
As RICS has grown, from 47 members to over 113,000 members across the globe, Surveyor House has grown in importance as a destination meeting hub, allowing members and the wider business community a central venue to congregate and discuss key challenges and solutions across the property and construction sectors.
Styles Façade Solutions® carries out close inspection work at Surveyors House, RICS headquarters in London. A surveyor examines ornate stone cornice details using a probing tool, checking for cracks and decay.
CLOSE-QUARTERS DIAGNOSTICS IN A HIGH-SECURITY ZONE
Styles Façade Solutions® was selected to conduct a detailed façade survey of Surveyors House, providing the facilities team at RICS with a comprehensive understanding of structural areas of concern across the listed building. These insights allow maintenance priorities to be efficiently integrated into their ongoing planned building maintenance schedule.
Given its prominent location and heightened government security restrictions, it was decided that neither fixed scaffolding nor the use of drones would be feasible. By using Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs), our qualified surveying team could quickly and effectively all elevations of the building to inspect, photograph, and record the façade’s structure in close detail.
Accessing the building’s highest points also allowed our team to immediately remove or make safe any loose or damaged masonry, eliminating potential hazards for the significant pedestrian traffic surrounding Parliament Square.
THREE ELEVATIONS SURVEYED AND SECURED IN UNDER TWO DAYS
The survey team from Styles Façade Solutions® was able to set up, conduct the commercial building facade survey, and leave site at the end of each day. The entire inspection across all three elevations was completed in less than two days, all without the use of either scaffolding or drones.
Once the on-site inspection had been completed, our qualified façade surveyor produced a detailed, illustrated, and colour-coded report which was presented to the RICS team within a few weeks.
“Being chosen to perform the façade survey for RICS at Surveyors House demonstrates the high level of trust placed in Styles Façade Solutions to deliver critical structural documents for a range of premier commercial and heritage assets. Using MEWPs, we can get up close and inspect the façade to ensure it is safe and secure, eliminating safety risks to pedestrians below while reducing liability exposure for property owners.”
Andy Thomas, Business Development Manager, Styles Façade Solutions
See the links below for more examples of the results Styles Façade Solutions® (formerly Thomann-Hanry®) can deliver for your business.
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