Time saving and safe handling

A UK construction company discovers the advantages of MevaDec

MEVA UK’s trading partner Leeds Acro Ltd. was commissioned in October 2024 by one of its customers, P. Colohan & Co. Ltd., to deliver all the formwork and falsework requirements for a large project in the London Borough of Havering, the Harold Hill Family Welcome Centre in Romford. After successfully using MevaDec for the first time, P. Colohan encouraged the formwork dealer to invest in a large stockholding of the slab formwork system.

From its Head Office in Tamworth MEVA UK supported Leeds Acro in every aspect of delivering the comprehensive project. Both MEVA and Leeds Acro’s planning teams worked together as a partnership. Hence, the formwork planning was performed as a joint effort, the logistics were planned, and the teams agreed on how to fulfil project-specific requirements through efficient processes. The teams integrated all draft designs seamlessly into unified drawings before they were submitted to the customer for approval.

Living space for people in need
The Harold Hill Family Welcome Centre is a pioneering project in Britain. It will offer homeless people and families in need a supportive environment and short-term accommodation until such time as permanent housing is found for them. The construction project, carried out for the Borough of Havering by Bugler Developments, will replace the borough’s existing hostels with a central state-of-the-art facility that offers 74 self-contained residential units for families and homeless people. The largest units will offer space for up to eight persons, enabling even large families to stay together in difficult times.

The U-shaped four-storey building will have a landscaped central courtyard with play areas for children as well as shared spaces for everyone, such as common recreational spaces and support facilities. This architectural design is intended to give the inhabitants a sense of community and safety.

The construction site had to be quickly supplied with large amounts of material to avoid time losses. The first delivery of the MEVA wall formwork Mammut 350 took place in October. In November the slab formwork was ready for use in Romford. MEVA UK and Leeds Acro co-ordinated the deliveries. 1,600 m² of MevaDec panels were delivered for the construction of the first slab in three pouring cycles. A further 570 m² of the lightweight and easy-to-handle slab formwork was also supplied for the second floor.

Leeds Acro’s choice of formwork
In order to guarantee a high-quality concrete finish right from the start, in the run-up to this project Leeds Acro invested in new Mammut 350 panels for construction of the stairwell and elevator cores as well as the columns. Furthermore, Leeds Acro rented new MevaDec panels from MEVA UK and had them delivered directly to P. Colohan & Co.

Well on schedule with Mammut 350
The Mammut 350 wall formwork was primarily selected for its high fresh-concrete pressure capacity and robustness, but also for the high-quality concrete finish the system produces. That a robust formwork system was required was due to the fact that the concrete construction work would be carried out during the harsh winter months. It is common knowledge that low temperatures can significantly impair the hardening process of concrete, causing delays and potentially leading to structural problems. Mammut 350 is known for its exceptional strength and efficiency. It can withstand a fresh concrete pressure of 100 kN/m² over the entire panel surface, allowing for shorter pouring cycles, and as such it was the perfect choice with regards to the tight project schedule.

Timeframes are especially short during the dark winter months when the projects can be negatively affected by adverse weather conditions and optimum use needs to be made of the reduced daylight hours. The formwork’s simple assembly and handling contributed to short installation and stripping times for the team from P. Colohan & Co. The formwork’s efficiency – with a forming area up to 8.75 m² per panel (350 x 250 cm) – accelerated the construction process and reduced the labour costs. The formwork’s symmetrical tie hole and joint pattern contributed to the harmonious overall impression of the core walls.

Attractive concrete surfaces using alkus
As all MEVA formwork systems are equipped with the alkus all-plastic facing as standard, P. Colohan & Co. achieved the exceptional concrete finishes they were hoping for. They found the alkus facing easy to clean and repair on the actual construction site using the same material with no loss of quality. Its superior product characteristics mean it can be used up to 1,500 times and sometimes even longer. Moreover, it is up to 30 times more durable than plywood facing materials.

MevaDec thrills the construction company
During the construction of the Harold Hill Family Welcome Centre, P. Colohan & Co. Ltd. utilised the MevaDec formwork system for the first time during a project instead of a competitor’s system. The personnel familiarised themselves with the MEVA slab formwork system in a very short space of time, the transition went smoothly, and the construction company was very enthusiastic about the efficiency of the system. For example, the team discovered that MevaDec is not only faster but also easier to handle than the system they had previously used. One of the system’s outstanding features is its lightweight design. The ergonomic aluminium panels have been designed with easy handling in mind. This reduces the physical exertion and fatigue for the construction workers and speeds up installation and stripping. Especially on this construction site in Romford, where time management and work efficiency were of utmost importance, the straightforward handling was a real advantage.

Of the three possible formwork methods using MevaDec, the customer was most impressed with the drop-head beam-panel method. With just a few hammer blows on the drop heads, the formwork panels and primary beams could be lowered by 19 cm and stripped earlier – by only two construction workers – while the props remained in place to support the slab, which had not yet fully hardened. The formwork panels and primary beams could then be used for the next pouring cycle. The optimised material requirements paid off through valuable time savings and simplified construction site logistics. And as the number of props required is optimised by the MevaDec system, the personnel enjoyed ample freedom of movement under the formwork.

P. Colohan & Co. considered the ability to simply and firmly lock multiple MevaDec panels together using MEVA panel connectors to be a major safety benefit. This enabled an entire panel unit to be slid along the primary beams and firmly secured at the free slab edges. For the site operatives this was a huge step forward compared to their previous experience where formwork panels had to be placed individually between castellations on primary beams beyond the slab edge, and there was always a risk that a panel could fall off.

The overwhelming positive feedback received from P. Colohan & Co. provided Leeds Acro with the impetus to convert its rental agreement with MEVA UK into a purchase agreement and thus become the first dealer for MevaDec rental formwork in Britain. The investment in this innovative system underscores Leeds Acro’s commitment to offering its customer P. Colohan & Co. the best possible solutions. The Harold Hill residential development project should be completed on schedule in spring 2026.

MEVA systems:

• MevaDec slab formwork
• Mammut 350 wall formwork

Project:
Harold Hill Family Welcome Centre, residential building, Romford, UK

Contractors:
P. Colohan & Co., Croydon, UK

MEVA dealer:
Leeds Acro Ltd., Bradford, UK

Engineering and support:
MEVA Formwork Systems Ltd., Tamworth, UK