Ashfield District Council
Ashfield District Council is situated within the town centre of Ashfield, occupied by District Council workers and Armed Police division. The 36-year-old redbrick building was in need of exterior restoration.
Ian Williams were appointed to externally restore each window and replace UPVC drain piping, facias and soffits in grey – the colour chosen by the council employees. Due to high areas of access, scaffolding and MEWPs (mobile elevating work platforms) were implemented to allow effective and efficient mobility around external areas. Working in an occupied environment, minimising impact to building occupants was key and therefore water-based products were used, reducing odour. Each window was restored by our directly employed painting teams using a 3 coat Denib and painting process for a high-quality, long-lasting finish.
All bat species, The Bat Conservation Trust fully protect their breeding sites and resting places. During the initial survey of the building, a colony of bats and their pups were identified in the roofing rafters. An environmental survey was conducted with the aerial view report revealing in-situ bat colony areas. The start date was delayed by 5 months to ensure the bats were protected, with consideration of their season and a license obtained from Natural England. Scaffolding was erected to catch the bats.
Communication with the occupants was crucial at the end of each day, for example which fire exit blocked off, windows open, sections active, scaffolding movement, site visitors, cherry picker usage, skip change over. These meetings raised awareness for entering and exiting the building and maintained a safe working environment.
Re-homing the bat colony delayed start date to in winter/spring which was not ideal for occupants to experience prolonged period of windows left open to dry and a drop in temperature working in their offices. Ian Williams’ Contracts Manager overcame this challenge by setting a 36-minute target per window, and 10-15 windows open at a time.
Co-ordination with three specialist sub-contractors working alongside Ian Williams’ painters on site at the same time, regular heath and safety checks, daily communication with occupants and re-programming the works to re-home bats were all essential to the project success.