When MJ Consulting Engineers were tasked with project managing roof restorations works of the Leeds Grand Central Theatre, we were thrilled to be asked to install a failsafe weather monitoring system to facilitate safe building operations.
About Leeds Grand Central Theatre
A stunning Grade II listed building steeped in history, Leeds Grand Central Theatre is regarded as a major milestone in Victorian theatre building. Built in 1878, the Theatre serves as a major part of Leeds’ cultural infrastructure, show-casing the best shows from the West End and beyond.
In 2016, the Theatre was granted planning permission for work to shore up the roof of the theatre and received a subsequent £2.95m funding from Leeds City Council for over-roofing works, which was designed to adequately support the ceiling of the auditorium.
As chartered structural engineers to the entertainment industry, MJ Consulting Engineers were chosen to project manage roof restorations works of the Leeds Grand Central Theatre. The team undertake projects ranging from simple beam designs to design and management of major refurbishments of buildings to accommodate shows/events, so were the obvious choice to deliver this landmark project on time, within budget whilst operating within the strictest safety parameters.
The Challenge
The Leeds Grand Central team needed a weather system which would allow for precise monitoring and planning throughout the roof works, particularly during the winter months, which would need to remain aesthetically sympathetic to the character of the historic landmark.
The construction industry has to comply with a host of strict health and safety regulations, including HSE - Health and safety in construction (HSG150) and HSE - Health and safety in roof work (HSG33) - both of which highlight the importance of taking appropriate action to manage the adverse effect of extreme weather (read more here).
With such a large scale task being conducted largely at height, the safety of all on site was of utmost importance to the site operators.
Risk management is crucial to the success of any construction project, and extreme weather poses a huge risk. Works that experience delays may not be delivered on time resulting in possible fines. The project will inevitably go over budget and safety could be compromised.
Our Solution
Our Skyview engineers set to work to design a system that allows the tracking of worsening conditions, to allow for rescheduling of works or even site shut down where necessary.
Site specific weather data is invaluable to planning any works to be carried out - so Skyview installed a wind alarm system with and RS-422 digital output, complete with traffic light beacons to give adequate warning to operations teams, which allow for timely planning and organising of site staff.
Set to the team’s own parameters, the wall-mounted, stacked LED beacons of the traffic light unit (red, green and amber) clearly indicates the current wind alert state independently from PC.
SkyMet-i software allows data to be collected, displayed and stored from the weather station, which is then disseminated to Skyview’s bespoke Skylink-pro weather web portal for remote real-time viewing, with the facility to receive wind alarms via email and SMS. Historic data can then be viewed and analysed via standard web browser on any PC on the network.
Skylink-Pro
We were delighted to welcome the team on board as subscribers to our Skylink-pro weather monitoring web portal. MJ Consulting’s annual subscription, complete with 5 user licences, allows the team to view real-time and historic wind data on-line from any location, from any internet-enabled device. Users can select the specific modules best suited to their needs, including national met data, forecasts and lightning data - allowing for cost-effect planning, therefore averting any potential on-site crisis.
