Vertical Extension at Mortimer St, Mayfair, London

GPF Lewis commissioned LSJ Engineering as the structural steel contractor in a building refurbishment.

We are the appointed structural steel contractor to GPF Lewis, the main contractor refurbishing a building in Mortimer St, W1 (in Mayfair, London’s West End).
This is a very complicated job as the main part of the works is a vertical extension forming a new 5th floor level. The 5th floor of the building is currently the roof of the 4th floor!

We have had to strengthen the existing steel frame at critical points of the current roof level in order to take the new structure’s weight… The total weight of steelwork alone is over 60 tonnes! Some of the new cranked roof beams weigh over 2 tonnes, and the only way to get these to the new level is by lifting them with a mobile crane. GPF Lewis arranged for several weekend road closures to set up a 130 tonne mobile crane and lift the new steelwork into place.

The works are ongoing, and we expect to our contract to be complete before December 2021. We will update you with the finished project in the new year! Here are some of our photos and, excitingly, some drone footage taken by GPF Lewis! You can find their write up of the project here.

  • view of a vertical crane as part of steel work at Mortimer St, London

Are you interested in commissioning steel work from LSJ Engineering?

We are available for steel work projects! Get in touch here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. You can find more of our structural steel work projects, including other vertical extensions, here.

Steel Staircase for WeWork, Blackfriars Bridge, London

LSJ were appointed by LTB to design a basement to ground floor steel staircase at a new WeWork office just south of Blackfriars Bridge in London.

  • Client: LTB
  • Structural detail by: Mark Ebbs
  • Job Date: December 2020

The staircase was to span over 9m without support posts. This would normally be achieved by using an off the shelf structural steel section such as channel or box section. However, the stringer had to look as slim as possible and no wider than the balustrade bolted to it. We achieved this by fabricating a hollow box section from 15mm plates welded together to make a section size of 400mm x 75mm.

The plates had to be fully welded together to give the strength and the welds also to be ground flat achieve a clean look.

To allow delivery, each stringer was made in two sections and spliced back together on site before erecting. Here is the staircase in our workshop:

Each stringer, once assembled, weighed over 800kgs! We had to take great care to avoid damaging the finishes. The stringers were erected using Roustabout lifting gear.

The balustrade bolted directly to the top of each stringer and had to fit perfectly, so we assembled the stair and made the balustrades on the stringers at our workshop before dismantling all and sending to be powder coated by Mulberry and Pier.

Along with a raised floor area and ramp balustrade on the ground floor in the same style, the works were delivered and completed in plenty of time before handover with minimal touching up of the paintwork. What do you think of the finished staircase?

Are you interested in commissioning a steel staircase from LSJ Engineering?

Get in touch with our team here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. We look forward to hearing from you! You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

Steel Staircase at Project Q, Thames Barrier, London

LSJ Engineering built a steel staircase for Project Q at London’s Thames Barrier in autumn 2020.

Construction management company Chisholm and Winch employed us to design, supply and fit a steel staircase to the new Thames Barrier control building in south east London. The new Thames Barrier building was constructed by Balfour Beatty.

This was a simple stair, except that the half landing had to be radiused on-plan to match the RC (reinforced concrete) frame of the wall adjacent. Following an electronic laser survey of the curved RC wall, we built the stair to fit. Furthermore, Chisholm and Winch had to ensure that the build up of insulation and plasterboard, applied to the RC, perfectly matched the wall behind. We trial-built the stair at our works in Shoeburyness, Essex. This allowed us to check the rolled stringers were a perfect fit to the laser-cut landing plates, so all fitted the wall without gaps or clashes.

Once powder coated a rather bright yellow off-site, the stair was delivered and fitted without any issues!

What do you think of the finished product? We’re pleased with it!

Do you require a steel staircase for your construction project?

We are open for commercial steel projects. Contact the team here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or phone 01702 290 585. You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

External Staircase Replacement in Harrow

LSJ Engineering was commissioned by ACAI Group to work on a commercial property in Harrow, Greater London. The property included a badly corroded external staircase, so our team designed and fitted replacement.

The existing stair, which was probably in excess of 20 years old, did not conform to current regulations. Unfortunately, the replacement stair did not meet regulations either, due to space restrictions. Permission was, therefore, granted by Building Control to replace ‘like for like’ in terms of tread goings and risers.

At the time our in-house drafting facilities were very busy on other projects, so the design work and drawings were carried out by Sam Thewsey of DSD Ltd.

This was an office access stair, so we carried out the removal and replacement over 4 long days, partly over a weekend, to minimise disruption to the businesses.

The new stair stringers, treads and balustrade were hot dip galvanized for durability. We’re pleased with the finished staircase! What do you think of our work?

Do you require a replacement external staircase?

We are open for commercial steel work. You can get in touch with the team here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or phone 01702 290 585. You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

Feature Staircase for Xero, Kings Cross, London

Denton Associates commissioned LSJ Engineering to design a feature staircase for an office fit out for Xero in Kings Cross.

The challenge on this job was that the stair ran from 7th to 8th floor levels, and the only access was via a 2.5m long lift. This meant that all the stair stringer and balustrade sections had to be less than 2.5m in length! They still required powder coating off site.

Our team designed the stringers to have neat joints. This allowed them to be bolted together once we got them to the correct level. It also ensured the stingers are as strong as if they were on one piece. The half landing support posts formed an ‘X’ to reflect the end client’s logo.

The perforated balustrade panels were bespoke, punched to form neat borders around each balustrade, while the copper handrails were fitted by others.

LSJ also undertook the demolition works to form the stair void opening in the 8th floor slab. We subcontracted to Evolution Enabling of Rayleigh, who installed a crash deck, saw cut and removed the slab, which was equally as challenging as the stair install.

Are you interested in commissioning a feature staircase from LSJ Engineering?

We are open for commercial steel and staircase work! Get in touch with the LSJ team here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

Feature Steel Staircase for Harmony, Oxford St, London

LSJ Engineering was commissioned by L&J Contracts of Rayleigh to design, supply and fit a feature steel staircase to a new Harmony flagship store in Oxford Street, central London.

The staircase was to have an industrial look. It was designed to fit a budget our assigned budget. We suggested a steel stair and balustrade, all powder coated, with a stainless steel horizontal tensioned wire infill. The finished steel staircase looks fantastic in the finished shop! What do you think of our work?

Do you require a feature steel staircase such as the one we made for Harmony?

Get in touch with the team here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or phone 01702 290 585. We look forward to hearing from you! You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

Secondary Steelwork for Comast Construction Ltd, City Island, East London

The LSJ Engineering team worked on this project for over two years, for Comcast Construction.

We carried out various secondary steelwork structures to a site in East London for Comast Construction, who were under contract to Ballymore Group.

The works partly consisted of steel roof and staircase structures connected to a reinforced concrete building. The biggest challenge was our extremely difficult access problems!

We achieved the safe install of the new roof structure by using a truck-mounted access platform and a 5 axle Speiring mobile tower crane from City Lifting.

The internal steelwork and stair structures were erected using manual lifting gear such a chain blocks and scissor lift access platforms.

Take a look at the plans and construction process below!

 

Are you looking for secondary structural steelwork for a commercial property? Get in touch with the LSJ Engineering team today!

Contact us here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. You can find more of our structural steel work projects here.

Steel Feature Staircase at Berners St, Westminster, London

The LSJ Engineering team was appointed by Oktra, an office fit out company, to design, supply and fit a feature staircase for their Berners St project in Westminster, London.

  • Client: Oktra
  • Modelled by: Mark Ebbs
  • Job date: May 2020

This stair is unusual in that the stair stringers extend to full height to form the balustrades. Handrails are fixed to the inside face. The unique design made installation quite challenging, because the large powder-coated sections had to be manually taken through a double door, then around internal doorways and lifted down to basement level. This all had to be done without damaging the finishes… still, we like a challenge!

The area in which the stair was installed was very tight, so we trial erected the stair in our workshop. When our team did the trial, we discovered a major problem fitting the treads. With the stair destined for such a small space, the problem would have stopped the installation had we not found it. As it was, we changed a few design details, and installation went very smoothly and ahead of programme. We’re very pleased with the finished steel staircase. What do you think of it?

Are you looking for a feature steel staircase for your commercial property? Get in touch with LSJ Engineering today!

Get in touch here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. We look forward to hearing from you! You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

External Basement Access Staircase at Old Burlington St, Mayfair, London

ACAI Group commissioned LSJ Engineering to replace a badly corroded external basement access staircase at their property in Old Burlington St, Mayfair, London.

  • Client: ACAI Group
  • Modelled by: Mark Ebbs
  • Job date: June 2020

The existing staircase, which was probably over 30 years old, did not conform to current safety regulations. Due to space restrictions, nor could the replacement stair. Building Control granted permission, therefore, to replace ‘like for like’ in  terms of tread goings and risers. This can happen with older buildings.

Our new stair stringers and balustrade were powder-coated in an external grade finish prior to instalment, while the treads were hot dip galvanized rather than powder-coated, for durability.

What do you think of the finished basement access staircase? We’re pleased with the results!

Are you interested in commissioning a staircase or structural steel work from LSJ Engineering?

We are open for commercial work, including basement access staircases! Get in touch with our team here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.

Internal Fire Escape Stairs for WeWork East Road

The LSJ Engineering team was enlisted by LTB to create some internal fire escape stairs for WeWork’s building in East Road, London.

  • Client: LTB
  • Modelled by: Mark Ebbs
  • Date: June-July 2018

This stair runs up through voids in the concrete floors, which were formed during the building’s construction. The stair stringers are supported at each level from the floor slabs. Half landings are supported on posts. You can see the plans for the fire escape in the gallery below.

A 3D survey was taken of the whole stair void area. We carried out the full design of the stair which had a balustrade with perforated sheet infill panels, all powder coated off-site.

The stair stringers were produced by laser cutting one piece each from steel plate. This was carried out by Pegasus Profiles, who have CNC machines large enough for the job.

What do you think of the finished fire escape? We’re pleased with it!

  • internal fire escape stairs with scaffold at WeWork, East Road
  • drawing of nine story fire escape by LSJ Engineering
  • drawing of nine story fire escape by LSJ Engineering

Are you interested in commissioning internal fire escape stairs from LSJ Engineering?

We are available for fire escape construction work! Get in touch here, email info@lsjeng.co.uk or call 01702 290 585. We look forward to hearing from you. You can view write ups of our other staircase projects here.