The Requirements
Working with a Design Consultant we were given a brief to design and manufacture a feature lighting scheme for the front entrance of the store using spheres.
The store also wanted a functional system to allow maintenance and cleaning to the normally inaccessible panes of glass at the front of the building and the hope was that this could be somehow incorporated into the atrium lighting solution.
The Solution
The positioning of the atrium lighting solution in the entrance of the building meant that the system would be required to have a man riding cradle for cleaning and maintenance operations, which would need to be supplied to a high European safety standard, as it would be suspended above people. To ensure that the design and aesthetics of the lighting feature were not compromised by equipment on show we designed the system so that the cradle doubled-up as a static suspension framework for the lighting scheme at the front of the store and was completely hidden from public view.
Cable reeling drums as well as the hoists themselves are hidden out of sight behind the fascia boards on the cradle itself, so when the store is closed the
cradle can be lowered, which in turn lowers the lighting spheres for service and maintenance. We also designed the system to include quick release fittings that enable the spheres to be removed easily, so that the cradle is accessible from ground level by a suitably trained window cleaning personnel, who then use the hoist and control system to raise and lower the cradle to clean the windows from the inside in the minimum amount of time.
We satisfied both the design and functional elements of the design using our knowledge and experience within this industry sector to provide TK Maxx with their desired solution and exceeded their expectations with the finished result.
Project Photo's
Hoist UK
"We always enjoy projects like this where we are able to design a completely bespoke version of one of our atrium lighting solutions. The challenge of providing a structure that can both provide a quality, safe lighting system but also act as access equipment was interesting and receiving positive feedback from the customer is always the best reward."