Modern Student Living in the Heart of London: Delivering Bespoke Metalwork for Chapter Living London Bridge
Chapter Living London Bridge stands tall at the heart of Southwark, London, a new benchmark for high-rise student accommodation. Surrounded by vibrant culture, famous landmarks like The Shard, and leading universities, the 39-storey building delivers more than 900 student rooms across a striking contemporary tower.
Combining luxury design, outstanding shared facilities such as a skyline gym, cinema, and study spaces, and unbeatable views, this residence puts students at the centre of everything London has to offer.
Work began on the project in February 2022 and was completed in September 2025. Developed by Chapter Living and expertly managed by Mace using their innovative High Rise Solutions (HRS) offsite construction system, the building shows how smart planning and modular delivery can bring efficiency, quality and safety to high-rise construction.
At PAD Contracts, we were pleased to play a supporting role in this project by providing key architectural metalwork that integrated with Mace’s offsite approach.
Working with Mace’s HRS Method
Mace’s High Rise Solutions system is changing the game on tall buildings. Instead of traditional step-by-step onsite builds, HRS relies heavily on modular components manufactured and assembled offsite. These modules, including bathrooms, utilities and stair elements, are precision-built in a controlled factory environment and then quickly installed onsite.
For a building with 32 almost-identical floors like Chapter Living London Bridge, this approach accelerates programme times while reducing waste, noise and disruption on a busy London site.
How PAD Contributed
Within this ambitious project, PAD Contracts was chosen to deliver key architectural metalwork elements for the building. With decades of experience and a reputation for skilled solutions and reliability, PAD’s team provided balustrades to escape stairs, all main stair installations, basement gantries, access structures, and bespoke bracketry, crafted and installed to meet the specific needs of Chapter Living London Bridge.
A core part of the project’s success came from PAD’s flexibility and technical know-how. The work was split between two phases:
- For the lower floors, installed using traditional site-based construction, PAD teams handled stair balustrade fitting directly on site.
- For the remaining repeat floors, as the HRS offsite method was adopted, PAD shifted to the Mace assembly facility. Here, balustrades were carefully set to exact lines and levels on precast stair units using custom jigs. When the stair modules arrived on site, only fine final adjustments were needed before the units were lifted into position.
This hybrid approach allowed PAD to maximise efficiency, delivering consistency, quality, and safety regardless of the construction stage.
