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

HIVE TUNNEL:

This sculptural network of low energy LED’s, complemented by an audio soundscape, covers the ceiling and illuminates the viaduct visitors pass through on their journey to the Co-op Live arena.

Stage One was responsible for installing the infrastructure of this beehive themed installation; fitting a configuration of bracketry, Unistrut and aluminium rolled bar to the underside of the archway. To attach the pre-made 200+ lighting boxes, we fabricated a bracket that would be fitted to the rear of the box. In the event of a lighting fault, it could be investigated or replaced by simply removing the cover of the lightbox rather than needing to remove the box itself.

The design spread towards the opening of the tunnel however, fixings were not approved for the front of the bridge and therefore Stage One designed a new solution with the fabrication of a bracket that would enable the lightboxes to be installed at a 45o angle, making the lightboxes appear to be fixed to the front of the bridge but without causing any damage to the structure.

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
Climate Pledge Arch
Walk This Way