Decking at the Tower of London
“Building a deck terrace for Her Majesty has to be one of the most prestigious proposals ever”… said Karl Harrison.
He’s designed and built some of the most expensive, complex and luxury decks there are… but nothing prepared him for this one. The Savoy, The Corinthiaand countless penthouse apartment rooftops.
When interviewed by Mark Gregory, whilst onsite, he said “it was nothing short of a privilege and that there was no better locale on earth to build a deck”.
Designing a curved deck in London
The deck has curves and curves on curves. It was certainly a complex design. The project started when Karl was approached by Landform Consultants to design the decking structure for the project. The project was designed to current industry standards promulgated by the Association of Professional Landscapers. It wasn’t an easy task due to the curve radii, they were very tight.
Setting out a curved decking at the Tower of London
Once the drawings have been signed off by the project Structural Engineer the work could commence. The drawings were handed over to the project Site Engineer who set out all 54 post support positions with pinpoint accuracy. Karl and his team then had to create hand-dug holes for the pad stones for the post supports.
Whilst the post holes were being dug there was a site Archaeologist on hand to sift through the spoil. Old pieces of pot, cups and plates were common finds with salt-glazed earthenware also in the find. Other excavations on site found an Army officer’s first World War pistol… imagine how that conversation went when he got back to base…
Superbloom Decking in the moat.
Anti-slip decking supplied by Country Supplies was exactly as specified by the project designers. A minimum preservative for Use Class 3 (UC3) was observed, a pine deck with anti-slip strips.
The framework was not touching the ground and with a grade of UC3 will last for years. The fixings to hold the whole Project together were specified by Karl were from Carpenters Mate. Designed to have a lifetime warranty against corrosion and the right dimensions to meet the spec. CMF150 in a flathead design with the best choice to connect the joist, beams and post supports.
The decking was fixed with 90mm stainless fixings with a bugle head, also by Carpenters Mate.
The upstand was created by bending sawn pine boards to fit the radii and painted with RAL 7016 Solid Colour Stain by Owatrol.
The detail in the decking
“A complex and technically challenging project… one I am immensely proud of” said Karl.
Mark Gregory wrote “Superb design and build of this boardwalk deck, over the proposed seeding, its going to be spectacular! This sun, think flowers, think London in the summer (thumbs up) think Superbloom.”
So, folks, get yourself booked to visit the incredible design surrounded by 20 million seeds. They should have germinated by now and are on their way to their resplendent showing ready your visit. do let me know how your visit went!
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