The Wates team and our sub-contractors would like to thank you for your continued patience whilst we have been on site at Upper Road.

Our site will close for the Christmas period on Friday 21 December, and will re-open in the new year on Wednesday 2 January.

Can we also take this opportunity to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Treacherous weather conditions could have easily turned into treacherous working conditions without close attention being given to all areas on site this week. In between the periods of high winds, frost and black ice work was safely and successfully carried out in the following areas:

 

The felt and batons to both roofs

 

 

Slates were fitted towards the latter end of the week

 

 

The ground floor windows were installed

 

Stone work commenced

 

 

As the build continues through the wet winter months the completion of the work this week has been crucial as the building is now water tight, meaning the internal trades can now start next week.

This week the timber frame specialist Oregon completed the final stages of the timber frame erection to both plots.

 

The following explains the process:

 

Once all Lifting Plans, Risk Assessments and Method Statements had been completed the 50 ton crane was positioned on site.

The roof which had been assembled on the ground floor ceiling was slowly lifted off the building and positions on a lay down area on site. 

 

Once the 1st floor walls are completed the roof is then lifted back up and landed on the walls.

 

 

The whole operation is planned meticulously and executed with expert precision but can be cancelled with the shortest of notice if the weather conditions are not optimum, fortunately for the Upper Road Project all went to plan and the Roof Covering begins next week.

 

Despite the size constraints of the Upper Road site, this week we managed to squeeze in a 35 ton crane and the erection of the Timber frame is now well under way.

 

Ground floor walls and first floor cassettes are being installed while the scaffolders start on the tubing for the 3rd lift which will be used to land the roof next week.

 

 

 

 

The scaffold around the buildings footprint has been the focus this week with the Timber Frame due next week the first couple of lifts will need to be complete to enable the Joiners to erect the frame.

 

Being such a small site the importance of keeping safe pedestrian access to and from the building is always an important consideration. So before the internal trades arrive on site in the up coming weeks O'Donnell's, our Groundwork specialists have been working diligently to lay as much of the drainage and surface water pipe work as possible before the site population increases.

 

 

It was always expected to be a messy start to the job in the fact that we encountered deep basements from previous buildings which had been demolished before Wates started on the project. A re-design on the upper plot meant a prolonged start however TKL managed to gain a few days coming into November. Unfortunately on the lower plot we again came across old basement which meant deeper than expected foundations. These had to be cast at a lower level then built up in mass blockwork to the underside of block and beam.

Storage of site materials is proving to be difficult due to the size of the site however the neighbour has been very helpful in letting us access our site through his land temporarily. On 12th November we will be placing block and beam floors.

 

 

 

Getting out of the ground has proven to be a challenging process making this week all the more rewarding, seeing the beam and block floor installed at the begining of the week followed by the preparation work for the concrete floor at the end of the week.

All went well in the start of the week and the weather stayed dry on Friday allowing the concrete slab to be poured.

 

 

The concrete foundations are now complete, although the excavations ended up being rather larger than hoped, due to the building that previously sat on the site being demolished.

The neighbouring land owner has kindly allowed us to use an area of his land, up to Christmas, so that the timber frame materials can be stored ready for erection, which has helped due to the tight nature of the site.

The concrete floor will be getting installed over the next couple of weeks with the scaffold and timber frame to follow.

Welcome...

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as Wates Living Space. We are a Building Contractor working in conjunction with Kirklees Council, and have been appointed to build four new homes on the vacant piece of land on Upper Road, Batley.

This development is part of the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life project, which will build 466 new homes for rent across Kirklees.  If you would like more information about the project, please visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/excellenthomes, or telephone 01484 225210 to talk to the council.

At Wates Living Space we take great pride in what we do and how we work with the local community whilst we are constructing our projects.  We will be in regular contact with you while we are building the homes, keeping you up to date with site activities which may affect you.

We will be carrying out further ground investigation works on Thursday 28^th June, with the main construction works commencing on Monday 24 September, starting with making the site secure. 

The site is due for completion on 15 February 2013.  Please feel free to get in touch at any point during this period if you have any concerns about our activities, and we will be more than willing to discuss these further.  The site office shall be manned from 7.30 amuntil 5.00 pmMonday to Friday.

You can contact us directly on our free phone number, 0800 121 4840, which is available Monday to Friday between the hours of 9.00 amuntil 5.00 pm.  However, if you need to contact us outside of these hours, please call us on the same number and leave a brief message with your name and contact details, and your call will be returned at our earliest opportunity.

May we take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your co-operation and we look forward to working with you over the coming year.