Lakesmere Makes Its Debut In The Energy From Waste Sector

5 July 2011

The building envelope specialist was appointed to design and install an innovative building envelope solution to a new riverside waste management facility in Belvedere in the London borough of Bexley, which is the largest of its kind in

The creation of the facility is expected to make a significant contribution to London's landfill diversion targets, with waste from Central London being brought in by barges along the River Thames as well as by road.

The new Belvedere facility was subject to a lengthy seven-year planning procedure and Lakesmere was heavily involved in specification process from a very early stage.

"Close collaboration with civil contractor Costain and design team Jacobs, proved vital throughout the delivery of this project to ensure that the product specification and design of the building envelope not only satisfied the strict planning requirements but also met the necessary building regulations," commented Lakesmere.

The extensive building envelope package that Lakesmere was appointed to install included Kalzip aluminium roofing, Kingspan wall cladding, Kalwal glazing system, Par louvers and bespoke fabrications from Sotech.

The riverside location of the Belvedere project also presented numerous logistical challenges in terms of site access.

Lakesmere said that safety, as always, was also a key priority and the site teams completed specialist training prior to the commencement of works. Owing to the sheer scale of the building, access via mechanical means was limited and so it was necessary for Lakesmere to identify alternative methods of safe installation. Utilising fall protection systems from Eurosafe Solutions, a combination of mast climber and man baskets, which Lakesmere used for the first time for this project, enabled the team to complete the installation safely and accurately.

Although still a relatively new sector for Lakesmere, the company has already extended it portfolio of work in the Energy from Waste sector with further contract wins including the Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility and various projects as part of the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority PFI scheme.

For more information on Lakesmere please visit www.lakesmere.com

Darrel Moore