“From a building manager’s point of view, I’ve had no problems at all – ten out of ten.”
  - Iestyn Francis, Building Manager, Willmott Dixon

Client: Cubex Land Ltd & Willmott Dixon Construction
Contractor: Willmott Dixon Construction
Architect: The Bush Consultancy
Location: Bristol, North East Somerset
Balconies: 126 balconies in two colours, black and gold, across 5 types.

History:
Located in Bristol’s city centre, just minutes away from the bustling Cabot Circus shopping centre, Millwrights Place sits on the former site of the Avon Fire & Rescue headquarters, next door to their current fire station. Situated over the river from Bristol’s historic Castle Park, Millwrights Place is just a stone’s throw from the city centre and this brand-new development of 231 private rental apartments provides both amenities for the working population and a useful link to the city centre.

Challenge:
With Millwrights Place & Cooper’s Court being both an inner-city job, in the heart of Bristol, and located next door to a busy fire station, there were a number of logistical challenges that came with providing balconies both quickly and without disturbing the peace in the area.

Having worked on all the blocks on this project, the challenges largely came from the need to fit large, dual-apartment balconies without disturbing the functions of the local fire station. Beyond this, getting balconies to the inside of the complex’s courtyard was a further challenge that we were eager to meet.

Solution:
Sapphire approached the challenges faced by Willmott Dixon with quick and simple solutions. Our offsite production facilities allowed us to manufacture all the balconies ahead of time and deliver them to the site once ready, meaning balconies were able to be fit onto the building without the need for cumbersome onsite storage.

Furthermore, fitting the balconies to the inside of the building was made simple through the use of their innovative Glide-On technology, meaning balconies could be simply lifted from the the ground to the inside of the complex and fit in far less time than a bolt-on alternative.

Sapphire are proud to have helped to deliver seamless install for Willmott Dixon at Millwrights Place and are proud to have left their stamp on another exciting development.

Installation Process
Step 1: Cast in anchors were cast into the slab & incorporated thermal break connections offering superior rigidity to the balconies.
Step 2: Cassette® balconies were preassembled offsite, including the balustrades, decking & soffits.
Step 3: Cassette® balconies were transported with balconies ‘nested’ onto each pallet making transport both cost effective & safe. Balconies were pre-slung offsite ready for installation upon arrival.
Step 4: Once lifted into position, the Cassettes® simply Glide-On™ to the pre-erected support arms, before completing the simple mechanical fixings.