Hatchards is a British institution. Occupying 187 Piccadilly, it is the oldest bookshop in London. Established by publisher and anti-slavery campaigner, John Hatchard in 1797 it boasts three Royal Warrants.
The booksellers, now owned by Waterstones, exclaims that the ‘essence of 187 Piccadilly remains the same and is unchangeable’. This presented quite a challenge for contractor, Chrisalis Refurb when tasked with supplying and installing external scaffold access to the front elevation up to roof level incorporating a temporary roof, giving access to remove the existing rooflight, make good areas of the existing opening and then to supply and install a new bespoke rooflight.
For the glazing solution Chrisalis Refurb sought the expertise of Howells Patent Glazing.
187 Piccadilly is a listed building therefore the rooflight had to be replaced like for like.
Originally the rooflight would have been single glazed with lead. Over the years it has been updated and Howells was tasked with replacing the Georgian wired cast glass which had been in-situ for 20-30 years.
The rooflight sits above office space with a suspended ceiling and this was factored into the specification.
Draughtsman, Warren Lowe attended site for an initial survey. This proved particularly challenging due to the position of the rooflight, the roof structure and details.
“The Georgian wired cast glass is not classed as a safety glass nowadays so had to be replaced, plus it was starting to slip and leak,” comments, Warren Lowe, draughtsman for Howells Patent Glazing.
“We recommended a replica polycarbonate to meet the requirement for a single glazed option. We suggested this because it is lightweight so wouldn’t add extra load to the steel support frame, and it is not translucent, so it is aesthetically more pleasing given the view of the suspended ceiling beneath.”
For the structure of the rooflight Howells selected its HG3 bar. While the internal stalk would be covered by the suspended ceiling below, the external wing bar is visible and is a good match for the original as is the bar’s uncoated mill finish which will dull down overtime.
Once the scaffold had been erected, Howells carried out a full survey and produced drawings for client approval and later, manufacturing. These drawings were also used by the client to gain approval from Building Control.
Piccadilly is an extremely busy thoroughfare in central London, this and the rooflight being five storeys up meant the removal and installation of the rooflight had to be meticulously managed.
A pre-start meeting was held onsite with Chrisalis Refurb, the scaffold company and Howells to agree the lifts of the scaffolding; where the scaffold loading area and hoist would be situated to enable the existing rooflight to be removed, broken into sections and then disposed, and the delivery and installation of the new rooflight.
The removal and delivery were carried out at weekends to minimise disruption. The new aluminium rooflight was delivered in sections and hoisted up to roof level ready for installation.
The existing steel support frame for the rooflight was made good prior to the installation of the new aluminium replica rooflight by Howells’ fitting team. The entire process was carried out inside a scaffold tent to prevent rain ingress and stop falling debris.
Commenting on the working relationship with Howells, Chrisalis Refurb, says: “We found them [Howells] to be very professional and reliable from the initial planning stages with Walter Howells through to getting drawings approved with Warren Lowe.”
