Providing a fire safety strategy for a neighborhood regeneration scheme

Middlewood Locks

Forming a brand-new neighborhood in Salford and at the gateway of Manchester city centre, Middlewood Locks is a mixed-use development designed to provide new homes and a community where residents can thrive. Our team helped bring Scarborough Group International’s vision to life.

Constructed over several phases, the award-winning development is part of a regeneration scheme which is set to deliver 83,600 square metres (899,863 square feet) of commercial space plus over 2,000 new homes. For Scarborough Group International, making sure that any development is safe and de-risked is essential for futureproofing. To achieve this, our fire safety engineers focused on two different initiatives to address the complex, making sure the development was in compliance with guidelines on the materials and maintenance of cladding on high rise buildings.

Our team provided fire engineering design through Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stages 2-5. On the pre-existing building, we carried out a retrospective assessment of the materials used in external wall systems, including cladding and balconies. To complete this audit, our team reviewed thousands of time-stamped photography taken during construction between 2015-2018.

Now in the third phase of development, our team has been performing bespoke computational fluid dynamic analysis, providing a proof of concept for ventilation systems across the development. We continue to work closely with the approving authorities and local fire service to obtain agreement in principle for the fire safety strategy to mitigate any ongoing design risk.