Provision of temporary access to support the Wates Residential award-winning ‘Cardiff Living’ development partnership with Cardiff Council to build energy-efficient affordable homes for renting and private sale.

Wates Residential has entered into an innovative regeneration partnership with Cardiff Council to build 1,700 high-quality new homes over the next 10 years throughout the city. With a mission to deliver vibrant living spaces and improve available local housing stock within existing communities, the £190m project will generate £15.3m in economic, environmental & social value.

At least 40% (around 680) of the 1,700 total homes will be council homes available for rent, with a small number available to first-time buyers through the council’s low-cost home ownership scheme. The remaining 60% (around 1020) of homes will be available for purchase on the open market under the Cardiff Living brand. Every new residential development site is purposely designed to prioritise pedestrian travel over motorised transport, with active travel structures and layouts providing access to open spaces, including community and retail facilities, by walking or cycling.

King’s Drive, off Willowbrook Road, is nestled in the St Mellons suburb on the eastern edge of the city and provides an ideal location for commuters travelling into Cardiff centre or Newport. The new development comprises a four-storey apartment block and a mix of stylish contemporary two-, three-, and four-bedroom detached & semi-detached homes available for private sale or council rent. All properties offer enhanced living environments that meet high sustainability and energy efficiency standards. St Mellons is popular with families and professionals and known for its green spaces, schools, and strong transport links.

To support Wates Residential in delivering the Kings Drive development programme on behalf of Cardiff Living, we erected full external envelope scaffolds up to three lifts high around each new-build house plot, utilising traditional tube and fitting scaffolds to support progressive brickwork. Then, after bricklayers reached the first-floor height, we provided internal fall prevention and quickly erected independent, fully boarded birdcages to create a stable working platform for various tradespeople and their equipment to operate safely. When the roofline is reached, we erect gable-end hop-ups to facilitate safe access to roof areas and to assist tradespeople working at height when laying tiles and installing rooftop solar panels.

Additionally, to further assist Wates Residential with keeping the build programme on schedule, all scaffold structures were integrated with up-and-over loading bays to support the delivery of materials for both external and internal works, as well as the removal of waste.

We then added HAKI staircases to improve on-site efficiency and provide scheduled workers, such as bricklayers, glaziers, and roofers, with safe access to all levels simultaneously, supporting the construction and finishing phases. Protective brick guard panels were secured to all boarded lifts to prevent potential risks associated with falling debris or materials.

Wates Residential is a long-term associate member of the Considerate Constructors Scheme and strives to be a good neighbour in the communities where they build new homes. So our operational team at Enigma’s Kenfig depot worked closely with the client to organise and coordinate scaffold erection/dismantling requirements along with scaffold material logistics to minimise any disruptions. This approach helped keep the overall project delivery on schedule and support Wates’ phased build programme.

The Cardiff Living partnership is committed to local recruitment by offering employment and apprenticeship opportunities to residents in communities around Cardiff. To support this initiative, Enigma has engaged in various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, backing numerous projects aimed at assisting people living within the surrounding community catchment area.

In support of a roofing maintenance project at a local school, Enigma’s Kenfig depot supplied and erected a complimentary scaffold tower to provide rooftop access for a contractor who also generously donated their services. Additionally, we supplied hard hats, tape measures, safety glasses, and scaffolding tubes to support a training programme aimed at promoting construction industry opportunities for attendees seeking to enter the workplace.