The ‘CityLink’ walking route is a public art trail for the Co-op Live arena in Manchester City Centre. Conceptualised, designed and delivered by NEWSUBSTANCE to encourage sustainable travel choices to and from the venue, Stage One was honoured to be involved in this 11-part installation, a legacy that will remain for years to come.
“It has been a pleasure working with Stage One on these installations having partnered on successful previous projects. The team’s collaborative nature and dedicated hard work ensured the successful fabrication and installation of key pieces for Co-op Live’s 11-part public art trail walking route.”
Mike Birch, Technical Director, NEWSUBSTANCE
CLIMATE PLEDGE ARCH:
The largest of the installations, the Climate Pledge Arch stands at eight metres tall and almost twelve metres wide, made using a combination of 50x50mm and 40x40mm steel box section, sat upon 2.5m wide, 20mm thick steel base plates. Its component parts were first manufactured in our machine shop. Our metal shop welded 7,500 tabs onto the main frame to accommodate the intricate configuration of coloured acrylic panels.
Made in three sections, each composed of five layers, the ladder frames were fabricated individually and assembled with 50x50mm steel box section between them to create the 500mm increments.
An LED display tallies the number of visitors walking to and from the venue, used to calculate the carbon savings accrued by choosing to travel on foot. We fabricated a clock housing for the LED display to fit inside the arch, a 50x50mm steel frame clad in high-grade brushed stainless steel; as well as anti-climb panels made of 2mm rolled mild steel plate, 16 panels installed into each leg using security screws.
First test built in our hangar, our rigging team identified suitable lift points and carried out a test lift. Installation on site was tight, assembling the arch on the floor, lifting, and turning it into position mid-air, without colliding with the nearby street furniture. The arch was placed onto concrete pads, each pre-drilled to accommodate the 20mm fixings, and chemfixed into place.
These projects also form part of the ‘CityLink’ public art trail for the Co-op Live arena in Manchester City Centre:
The Big M
Light Antennas
Hive Tunnel
Walk This Way
