Kings Hall Leisure Centre, Hackney is a Grade II listed property, constructed in 1897 as a public swimming pool and baths and has been adapted and extended in many phases since its construction.

A building survey conducted in July 2015 was restricted in its scope because of access issues: a cherry picker was employed in the facility’s car park but was only able to view less than 10% of the upper areas of the property - roofs which were unsafe to inspect physically. It was vital to get a more accurate record of the roofs’condition. At the suggestion of John Gajewski at Hackney Council, an aerial drone-based photographic survey of the structure was undertaken by Overdrones with the purpose of providing information for a necessary repair work budget.

The drone survey was carried out in Winter - with all of the associated issues that come with filming at that time of year (e.g. low-light, wind, rain etc.). It was also done during the normal working week, rather than a quiet Sunday, which necessitated additional delicate planning and ground management to ensure safety in the busy pedestrian and road traffic area around this centrally located Public facility.

The drone was able to access almost 100% of the roof area and - unlike the cherry picker - could do so with minimal disruption to the Leisure Centre users, passing pedestrians, and road traffic. High resolution photography with professional-grade cameras were used which also enabled results to be digitally “zoomed in” for even greater detail if required.

The commissioning surveyor, John Gajewski, Heritage Building Surveyor within Hackney Strategic Property Services, commented on the drone survey:

“Kings Hall Leisure Centre presented a major logistics challenge and the drone survey was perfect. The results mean that we now understand the condition of all roofs for the first time and we spotted defects that wouldn’t have been identified otherwise. Gladly, we can now start detailed planning to bring this important Listed building back into good condition. It also saved us over £30,000 against the cost of putting up a partial scaffold!”