Not all the bottom fixings at Westfield were a simple as fixing a catenary between two points. In fact in quite a few positions we had to create the points as well! The centre does not permit any drilling or fixings into the structure of the building so all solutions need to be weight or friction based.
On the Southern Interchange the challenge was to provide bottom fixing positions along the street above head height. The cladding of the building had been completed and the only possible solution was to make use of the columns. The columns are poured concrete pillars with secondary cladding so any device would have to apply pressure evenly to the structure to ensure there would be no denting or stretching of the aluminium cladding.
Project Manager David Green resurrected the idea of a column clamp which could be assembled in situ and tightened to grip the column evenly. Previously we have manufactured these for other clients in smaller gauge metals, but as these were going to be outside for some weeks we had to consider their durability and reliability.
The clamps were finally designed in 10mm thick 150mm deep steel banding which was bespoke hot rolled in Manchester before being returned to our fabrication shop to be milled and powder coated to match the building. 8mm rubber was applied inside the curve to protect the existing column paintwork.
The final outcome was a run of sympathetic column brackets, weighing approximately 60Kg each, connected by 8mm steel wire rope to provide fixing positions along the entire length of the street. The centre actually commented on the finish, noting how hard we had worked to match the paints and manufacture a product that merged neatly with the environment
