Outer leaf brickwork panels secured on Edward Woods Estate

Three 24 storey 1960’s tower blocks on the Edward Woods Estate in west London, owned by the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, have undergone a comprehensive £12m refurbishment that will extend their life by 40 years. High winds caused part of the external brick panel to become detached and fall due to failed wall ties. As a result, the outer leaf brickwork had to be securely fixed to the inner leaf blocks and concrete frame.

Helifix Solution

After Helifix had conducted successful pull-out tests, the Approved Installer used abseil techniques to install some 18,000 DryFix remedial wall ties to allow installation of solar panels, insulation cladding and render. The work was carried out on each of the end walls of the top 16 storeys on three tower blocks.

The cavity width for each tie had to be established prior to installation, as this varied between 20mm – 100mm, to ensure a minimum 50mm penetration in the inner leaf, for security of fixing, and a maximum of 70mm to avoid damage to internal finishes and services.

15,000m of HeliBar and 23,000 ResiTies were installed in the six tower stairwells to create an interlocking system connecting the inner leaf to the main structure.

Works also included installing some 200 mild steel retention straps on each block to secure the sides of the outer brick panels to the concrete frame.