Provision of HAKI system scaffolding integrated with loading bay platforms and HAKI staircases.

Esh Construction was the appointed contractor on the £12.8m development project to build 63 much-needed affordable housing units in the centre of Bellingham for Karbon Homes on the former Auction Mart, a derelict brownfield site that has been disused for over 13 years since the buildings were demolished in 2010.

The new Pennine Meadows development provides the rural Northumberland community with sustainable housing for current and future generations. It comprises 14 bungalows, 14 apartments and 15 houses for affordable rent and rent-to-buy tenures, along with 20 care-ready supported housing apartments available for shared ownership. All properties have been purposely designed to complement the surrounding countryside landscape.

Building the new homes brought extensive investment to the local area through Section 106 commitments, including £16.5k towards increasing primary healthcare infrastructure capacity. An additional £16.5k was spent on amenity green spaces, parks and gardens, and children’s play and informal recreation facilities.

The project scheme was initiated by developers Maple Oak Living and delivered in partnership with Elliott Associates, Portland Consulting Engineers, ERGO Projects, DRC Consulting and SINE Consulting.

Pennine Meadows is part-funded through Karbon’s £165 million strategic partnership with Homes England to develop 2,200 much-needed affordable homes across Yorkshire and the Northeast region by 2028.

To support Esh Group in delivering high-quality timber frame kit homes on the former auction mart site for Karbon Homes, Enigma provided a comprehensive temporary access solution utilising HAKI system scaffold. Our scaffolders erected fully boarded, full-height structures complete with staircases and loading bays around the floor slab perimeters. At this early stage, the internal cantilever brackets were omitted to allow the timber roofs to be assembled safely on the slab and completed ahead of the scheduled kit erection day—ensuring sufficient clearance so the scaffold’s inner standards would not interfere with the roof overhang.

On erection day, the completed roofs are lifted and transferred to the next prepared plot by crane. Timber wall panels are then craned directly from the lorry onto the floor slab, with both inner and outer walls installed before the floor cassettes are fitted. The pre-assembled timber roof structures are then lifted into position by crane, with skilled operatives guiding the trusses precisely into alignment with the timber walls below. Once in place, our scaffolders continued to erect table lifts, providing safe access to the gables, and then installed roof edge protection.

Constructing the roof truss frameworks at ground level delivers two key benefits: improved safety by minimising work at height and a significant reduction in overall assembly time—keeping the project efficient and on schedule.

The installed HAKI staircases further enhanced productivity by ensuring all trades, including bricklayers, fitters, glaziers, and roofers, could safely and easily access every level during the build and fit-out stages. In addition, HAKI loading bays streamlined material deliveries and waste removal, maintaining a clean and organised site throughout.

To uphold the highest safety standards, Enigma’s team also installed yellow protective brick guard panels on all boarded lifts, securely fastened with cable ties to prevent any risk of falling materials or debris.

Through innovative planning, technical expertise, and a commitment to safety, Enigma Industrial Services helped Esh Group deliver an efficient and well-coordinated build process to complete the Pennine Meadows housing development on behalf of Karbon Homes.

The UK government is proactively promoting the use of MMC (Modern Methods of Construction), including timber frame building and offsite manufacturing, to address the national housing shortage. As a result, many housebuilders are moving away from traditional brick-and-block methods and adopting more innovative construction techniques, such as timber frame kit assembly, to enhance on-site efficiency and accelerate build times without compromising on quality.

The HAKI modular system scaffold is perfectly aligned with this industry shift. Designed for speed, safety, and adaptability, it’s an ideal solution for fast-paced new-build housing developments. HAKI’s unique ‘hook-on’ system enables components to be installed quickly and securely, increasing on-site productivity by up to 60% compared to traditional tube-and-fitting scaffolds, which are assembled one lift at a time to progressively support bricklayers.

As the official UK distribution partner for HAKI, Enigma provides specialist expertise and support to help clients adopt modern, efficient access solutions that complement MMC practices and deliver measurable project performance improvements.