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:
Tallying the number of visitors that walk to and from the venue, as shown on its LED display, the Climate Pledge Arch can be used to calculate the carbon savings accrued by choosing to travel on foot.
The largest of the installations, and one of the largest fully assembled pieces of fabrication that we have seen in our workshop for a while, the arch stands at eight metres tall and almost twelve metres wide.
Maintaining the design theme of white painted steel with multi-coloured acrylic panels, the arch was made using a combination of 50x50mm and 40x40mm steel box section, sat upon 2.5m wide, 20mm thick steel base plates. Its components parts were first manufactured in our machine shop, then transported to our metal shop for fabrication which involved the welding of 7,500 tabs onto the main frame to accommodate the intricate configuration of coloured acrylic panels.
The arch was made in three sections, two legs and a central arch, each section composed of five layers of individual ladder frames. The ladder frames were fabricated and then assembled using 50x50mm steel box section between them to create the 500mm increments.
We test built the structure in our hangar prior to leaving for site. First laid on the floor, our rigging team identified the most suitable lift points, and we used our overhead gantry crane to raise the structure into a vertical position, imitating the process that would take place on site.
Additionally, we fabricated a clock housing for the LED display, a 50x50mm steel frame that fitted inside the arch, 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 of the arch using security screws.
Installation on site was tight, assembling the arch on the floor, lifting, and turning it into position whilst in the air, yet without colliding with the nearby fencing. The arch was placed onto pre-made concrete pads, each pre-drilled to accommodate the 20mm fixings, and secured into place using a chemical resin.
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
