The London skyline is a breathtaking sight. It is a vibrant city where old meets new and home to some of the world’s most famous historic buildings and some of the world’s most iconic and ground-breaking new architecture.
Time and again CoxGomyl have been entrusted with the responsibility of delivering facade access solutions, working with the architects who are shaping the London cityscape. CoxGomyl have met the high demands for functionality, technical innovation and maintaining the aesthetic vision.
20 Fenchurch Street
Also known as the ‘Walkie Talkie’, this building’s unique form means each floor differs in size, but all floors boast uninterrupted vistas across London in every direction. To ensure those all-important views provide maximum impact, effective and reliable facade access solutions were vital to the success of the building.
The curved roofs presented a challenge and CoxGomyl designed a tailor-made selective pivoting variable levelling BMU platform to navigate the facade surface, whilst also achieving minimal impact of the visual design of the building. The roof features striking architectural features and the BMUs are specially deployed to work in harmony with this design, with three machines travelling on tracks attached to the roof fins and parking in a concealed position between the fins. You can watch the impressive system in action in this video.
20 Fenchurch Street. http://aasarchitecture.com/2015/01/open-sky-garden-20-fenchurch-street-rafael-vinoly.html/open-sky-garden-in-20-fenchurch-street-by-rafael-vinoly-15
Park House
This mixed-use complex represents the biggest development on London’s famous Oxford Street for more than 40 years. Reflecting the look and feel of the wider city, Park House is inspired by classic design principles which meet with modern, forward-thinking forms and materials. The Many spectacular views across Mayfair are provided by the building’s curvilinear shape, bright, light-filled spaces and glass structure.
This high profile development needed to be kept in pristine condition and this required one of the largest BMUs in the UK. The BMU, which has a 35m jib, is stored out of sight below the building’s roofline when not in use by means of a substantial, screw jack operated lift table. We pride ourselves on being an end-to-end provider and all equipment was manufactured in our Madrid factory. Click here to see the BMU in action.
The Shard
The tallest skyscraper in Western Europe is an instantly recognisable London landmark. With an irregular pyramidal shape and four glass shards rising 20m from the roof at various angles, this unique building presented CoxGomyl with a challenge that demanded all of our experience, innovative thinking and global resources.
The bespoke solution includes eight multiple knuckle machines housed in garages at level 29 concealed by mechanically retracting panels. Machines with reaches of up to 15m are automatically extended and parked. A similar system is used at level 75 where another four multiple knuckle machines are parked.
The main system is completed by the level 87 BMU, which sits among the cantilevered shard tips. Complex sequences of movements were required to move the BMU into working position without coming into contact with the building. The solution was a specially tailored design with three sections of the jib which luff independently to give a full range of motion. This allows the jib to reach up almost vertically to access the top panels while also enabling it to fold down out of sight for parking.
There is also a smaller BMU at level 19 as well as a unique rope diverter system at level 20, which was developed especially for The Shard to overcome planning restrictions. Recessed monorails with power winch cradles inside the station concourse soffit complete the comprehensive access solution. Click here for a video of this amazing project.
CoxGomyl are passionate about providing building access solutions that ensure the London cityscape remains pristine. As end to end developers, CoxGomyl work to overcome the challenges that architectural innovation entails to achieve the best façade access solutions.
Back to News
