Glide-On™ Install Wows at Pontoon Dock

The site team at Pontoon Dock were bowled over by the speed and simplicity of Glide-On™ install hitting up to 20 a day.

Pontoon Dock is part of the regeneration of the Royal Docks area providing 236 residential units to meet the growing need for housing in the capital. The project will form a gateway to the Thames Barrier Park which “combines striking landscaping with adventurous planting”. Residents will enjoy exceptional views from their balconies over the River Thames, park and the historic Royal Docks.

There were both logistical and installation challenges at Pontoon Dock as the location required “tight logistical planning” according to the Project Manager and a fast install was essential. The project manager felt “on time delivery was key” to the smooth running of the project programme. We worked with the site team to carefully plan deliveries in synergy with the programme and ensure the balconies were there ready for install when the site needed them.

The speed of the balcony install was also a concern for the site team who were working within a tight project programme. This concern was overcome by the speed and ease of the install of our Glide-On™ balconies which, as reported by the project manager, regularly hit up to 20 per day. He added, “if it was a clean run it would have been quicker, but the scaffold strikes set the pace”.

One member of the Bouygues team said “The Sapphire Balcony installation was the most memorable part of my most recent project. It was the first time that our team was using the Sapphire balcony system, so naturally we were slightly apprehensive and anxious about implementing a new process. In the end, we could not have been happier with the way the process went – from clear communication throughout the design phase, providing quality balconies, and professional expertise during the installation. I would say that we were not only content with work, but we enjoyed working with the entire Sapphire team involved.”

Our Glide-On™ technology enabled a smooth install to be quickly completed helping cut the full site programme by 4 months. The presence of scaffold on the lower levels would have posed a problem for traditional balcony methods but using our Counter Balance Lifter (CBL) we were able to install balconies in a sequence to suit the needs of the site. This meant balconies could be installed on the upper floors while scaffold was still in use on the lower levels, adapting the install to fit with the other active trades and ensuring a seamless hand over.

Pontoon Dock is a clear demonstration of the potential of the Sapphire Glide-On™ system and its ability to contribute to dramatic time savings on site and associated costs. The project manager reported that one of the major selling points of Sapphire’s system was the offsite manufacture and was pleased to see “it really came as sold” and was “far quicker than concrete balconies”.

The fully modular construction of our balconies streamlines the installation process avoiding common, costly issues like the interface of trades on site. These savings are quantifiable with our hypothesising tool which easily calculates the difference and associated savings between Glide-On™ and bolt-on or concrete balconies. Contact us to try the tool and see how the benefits of Glide-On™ could apply to your next project.