Issue 42 summer 24 web - Flipbook - Page 101
Steel Window Association
member completes heritage
refurbishment within
Woolwich Arsenal
While recent decades have seen Woolwich Arsenal
transformed from a near derelict munitions factory to
become one of south London’s most iconic redevelopments, restoration and repurposing work continue apace,
with a recently completed contract involving Steel
Window Association member, ASWS, highlighting both
the challenges and the opportunities the complexity of
the buildings can present.
Aside from converted and new-build residential
properties, the huge site has also seen numerous
businesses and social enterprises established, including
Woolwich Works, a creative quarter for the arts which
includes spaces such as The Firework Factory, The Laboratory and The Cartridge Factory. ASWS has undertaken
a number of contracts within the borough, leading to the
local conservation officer recommending the company to
Mace Interiors, which was awarded the contract to
completely refit five separate buildings, with Bennetts
Associates being the architectural practice leading the
design work.
Within Buildings 19 and 41, ASWS was tasked with
refurbishing over a dozen large steel windows, including
10 with semi-circular heads, and the removal of three others where the openings were to be blocked up or replaced
by new doors. While the company’s operatives are well
experienced at demounting very old windows without
damage, these posed a particular challenge in that the
outer frames had been deeply recessed into the brickwork
to help withstand a possible explosion, from inside or
outside, with the history of the building and its location.
The 12 windows measuring 2,400mm high by 1,500mm
were removed to the London premises of ASWS for
careful grit-blasting and the replacement of many heavily
corroded sections. In part, this work was facilitated by
the company’s astute decision to conserve the three
unwanted frames rather than simply scrapping them.
During the course of its project, this trio became the
“Frankenstein” of donor frames for a number of repairs
carried out by ASWS.
