Center Parcs Longleat Dome

Design of an award-winning tiered suspended access platform at Center Parcs, Longleat.

PROJECT

We designed an award-winning suspended access platform for our client iMS Access Ltd to give workers access to repair the 100m diameter domed roof at Center Parcs in Longleat.

The project required that the centre remain fully open to the public during the repairs, since the work would take 30 months to complete, and so we had a unique challenge ensuring our design provided safety for those working on the platform, as well as for nearly 4000 members of the public using the centre below on a daily basis.

ANALYSIS

Our innovative design was a tiered access platform which was suspended between the radial Glulam beams of the dome. We utilised our own X-Beam design to create a strong and durable working platform capable of maintaining a safe working load of 500kg per tier.

We designed the platform as a safety crash deck to absorb the impact of any falling glazing panel or roof component, protecting the public area below.

We also designed secondary platforms to give access to the more angular sections of the roof at the apex of the dome, as well as decoration platforms and custom lower tier platforms.

Our platforms were also designed to be made completely from ‘off the shelf’ components to save our client the time and money associated with the fabrication of bespoke elements.

Our platforms allowed vital repairs to be carried out on the domed roof while the public area beneath was kept operational throughout the works.

Our design won the Construction News Awards Project of the Year accolade in 2017: 

“This was a brilliant, brave and innovative solution to what was a hugely challenging project.”   - Judges’ Comments