One of UK’s largest Sikh temples takes shape in Leicester

The £4.8 million Gurdwara is being built on a 2.8 acre site opposite Keyham Lane Police Station in Hamilton, Leicester. The scheme is being carried out by the trustees of the Ramgarhia Board Leicester (RBL). Members have been worshipping in a former industrial building in Meynell Road, Spinney Hills in the city for nearly fifty years but say that the growing congregation and a need for a more modern base has led to this relocation project.

The Hamilton Gurdwara will have a large ‘langar’ hall for dining that can take up to 500 people, a ‘diwan’ hall for 600 worshippers to pray, a library, classrooms, an IT suite and a bridal suite. The new building will also benefit from coach parking facilities and a car park that can take 118 cars –plus the essential cycle racks!

Skill-Scaff was invited to tender for the scaffolding contract by contractors Hemway. This was the first major job that the company had undertaken with Hemway. They had worked together on a few new build projects in the area – but nothing of the scale of this building.

The project started when a handrail was erected in October 2018, and the scaffolding part of the project was completed in June 2020.

Over the course of the project Skill-Scaff have had between ten and fifteen members of their team on site and, in addition, they attempted to keep between two and four scaffolders on site most of the time to provide continuity. Being a new build project there were relatively few challenges for the team and things progressed relatively smoothly. The equipment utilised on site was standard tube, boards and fittings.

“Skill-Scaff and Hemway worked really well together on the project and we look forward to working with Hemway again in the future,” says Skill-Scaff’s Scaffold Manager Paul Sharp. The building is well underway now and it is already possible to see that it has a modern, contemporary design with a beautiful stone finish. Glass domes provide an abundance of natural light providing an open and natural feel for the building. There are some traditional elements included in the design through the use of colour from the Nishan sahib – the traditional Sikh flag.

One of the UK’s largest purposebuilt Sikh temples – or Gurdwara – is taking shape in Leicester with the help of Scaffolding Association member Skill-Scaff.

It’s another success story for a Scaffolding Association member and one that will provide an impressive new home for part of the growing Leicester Sikh community. It’s a stunning new building that will be an important part of the Leicester skyline for decades to come.

FIND OUT MORE www.skill-scaff.co.uk www.amicus-insurance.co.uk

We have been working with the Scaffolding Association since 2015 and are proud to nsure many of the UK’s leading Scaffold companies.

We really understand scaffolding insurance and we love it. We have even employed some former scaffolders within our business so you can be 100% confident that we really do talk your language!

All that expertise, enthusiasm and industry knowledge means that you can trust Amicus to not only find the best insurance to protect you, your business and your employees, but that you can also rely upon us to do it at the most competitive price. We even offer additional discounts for Scaffolding Association and NASC members.

Why not give us a try!

To discuss your insurance requirements, or to find out how we can help you contact Richard Evans, Rory Boylan or Adam Scott on 0208 773 5395 or email us at adam scott@amicus-insurance com www.amicus-insurance.co.uk Compass London Market Broker of the Year 2015/16 accesspoint.org.uk

Cumiskey Scaffolding supports class-leading ‘business incubator’

just over 14 metres long in order to get the correct usable slope. Cumiskey made the ramp 1.57 metres wide to allow sufficient room for wheelchairs. The ramp also boasts a small loading bay where GEC staff can use mechanical aids to wheel deliveries inside. The slope of the ramp was made slightly easier using swivel base jacks. Once completed the ramp was enclosed and felted to prevent slips. A crash deck was also built over the ramp to protect pedestrians from any falling debris.

Around the perimeter of the building, Cumiskey erected over 200 linear metres of scaffold. The south elevation is the heart of the site and also the main area for access and egress to the work areas. Due to COVID-19, the scaffolding crew implemented a one way system when on the scaffold with two staircases –one each for access and egress. These climb the full 30 metres, allowing stop-offs anywhere in between. The west elevation was a challenge as the scaffold company could not land any legs in the neighbouring Guinness store house due to high traffic and brewing operations. Cumiskey’s crew decided the best option was to cantilever the entire 20 metre span from an inside leg secured to the wall with Apollo plates and spurring up to the outside leg. This was done from a MEWP. Once taken up to height, the west elevation was linked into the South with a 2.57 metre cantilever. The north elevation was deceiving to look at. It appears to be sitting on a neighbouring roof, but in fact there is no weight going onto the actual roof at any point. The entire 85 metre run is held by 12 x 8 metre 450mm Layher beams which are fixed to structural steel and spurred out to carry its two lifts.

Director Robert Cumiskey described the key challenges: “The main issues we came across were ties and anchor points on the working lifts. As the top two floors were to be completely glazed, keeping solid ties without hindering other trades seemed impossible. Ultimately, our team came up with a solution similar to the north elevation where we used 450mm beams fixed to structural steel and spurred out to our scaffold. This meant windows, brackets and plasterboard could be fitted with minimal hindrance from our ties.”

Overall a very successful project by Cumiskey Scaffolding for an ultra-successful business centre in the heart of the vibrant Dublin community.

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The Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC) in Dublin is a world-class university associated enterprise centre for ambitious and innovative companies. It provides a modern, spacious and flexible working environment supported by best-in-class support services. It houses business start-ups and entrepreneur driven businesses – many from abroad – in a space designed to encourage shared knowledge and networking.

What sets the GEC apart is its rich heritage, its vibrant entrepreneurial community and a strongly influential start-up support ecosystem. At the GEC it’s possible to immerse yourself in an environment of like-minded entrepreneurs, work alongside start-up business advisors and seed capital investors, access programmes, supports and knowledge geared to helping a business develop and accelerate the process of becoming investor ready, securing finance. The GEC is managed by Dublin Business Innovation Centre, the publicprivate business support organisation which has supported the creation of over 600 start-ups. Building activity started in November 2019. As the building was still live and would be for the duration of the project, Cumiskey was first tasked with building an access corridor which was ramped for wheelchair access. In order to comply with regulations this ramp had to be