Requirement:

After five exciting years spent creating the wonderful venue that is Swansea Arena, South Wales' newest multi-purpose entertainment venue, it would have been a scandal if any part of this transformed building were to be blighted, especially by something as preventable as the resident birds who were known to inhabit and nest within the area.

There were several, debatable areas at design stage that would have allowed for the noisy Gulls & Pigeons to roost, nest, and overall be a general nuisance to the Project hence it was important that we worked with the Client at tender stage to identify and mitigate these issues in order to confidently offer our varied control measures to mitigate any ongoing problems from developing once the building was handed over.  

Solution:

Our 75mm gauge netting and fixings have now successfully been installed to both the arena’s rectangular roof and the entirety of the residential block’s roof. It was important to balance functionality of the system with the aesthetics of the building hence as an example in one area, the netting has been set to taper away from the roof perimeter towards the centre, making it less visible from ground level.

The arena's plant levels proved more challenging than our usual remit, the sheltered M&E would have provided ideal nesting areas for all types of birds, the concern being that damage and health issues occurring from droppings and other hazardous materials could be found within the operating M&E systems required to operate the arena.

50mm gauge netting was the agreed control measure, it is lightweight, and UV stabilised which means that if the system is maintained, it will last for many years to come. Bird Spikes were installed on the residential block’s windowsills and hoods, as well as to the perimeter of its roof area to further deny any uncooperative birds that were not so keen to move on.

Whilst all our products do work very well as standalone solutions, we have over the years come to appreciate that often the best results come when utilising a mixture of our deterrent systems hence each Project is approached in a bespoke manner, it can take a couple site surveys and meetings to agree the final installation prior to us accepting the works.

Access Strategy:

Due to the challenging access areas of the building coupled with the modified requirements of the installation, we felt the safest and quickest way to carry out our installation works was by using our specialist rope access teams who were able to safely lower down from the upper floors and carry our install works level by level as they became available, with minimal impact on the overall Project operations, surrounding areas and the environment.

Our installation teams responsible for carrying out these works held the necessary training tickets such as IRATA (Level 1- Level 3), CSCS, IPAF, First Aid and Lone Working, this ensured that our works were carried out carefully and efficiently in line with HSE guidance.

Comments:

Eco Environmental’s Operations Director Fiona Kerslake commented:

“I was lucky enough to visit this Project and tour behind the scenes a few months before completion and it was refreshing to see how multiple trades were working together to pull this project over the line. As a Team, Eco Environmental were proud to partner the Main Contractor to enable the transformation of Swansea into a thriving living, working and leisure destination.”

If you need or would like to find out more about our Bird Deterrent Systems, please give us a call on 01752 669009 today!