Soft touch temporary works: Westminster Hall roof lantern freestanding access, UK

The temporary access scaffold for refurbishing one of the Westminster Hall roof lanterns at the Palace of Westminster in London, UK, required a particularly sensitive approach. The only means of support, other than scaffold towers 38 m apart at ground level, were two awkward-shaped parapet walls. Removing the capping stones of these walls would be a health and safety risk and unsympathetic to the historic listed building. Standing over 45 m high with a main bridged span of 25 m, the scaffold was stabilised without the need for a single intrusive fixing. It was supported directly off existing parapet walls in such a way that no trace of the scaffold was left after 3 years in use.