For their latest project, they travelled to Oxford to install some shaped glass units to several public areas at Oxford Railway Station. As a functioning railway station, this was a highly time-sensitive project with a focus on adhering to stringent health and safety regulations.
Improving Oxford’s public transport environment
Oxford Railway Station is a busy transport hub. With an estimated 7.984 million users in 2018, it is one of the UK’s busiest railway stations. First opened in 1844, Oxford Railway Station has served travellers for both commercial and leisure use. With direct trains to London Paddington and connections via Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly and Newcastle, Oxford remains an important location for rail travel across the UK.
Oxford is also a popular destination in itself. With its university heritage, traditional architecture and abundance of cultural highlights, Oxford welcomes many tourists to the area every year. With so many people using Oxford Railway Station, it is imperative that it meets the necessary standards of a modern transport centre. To complete the essential refurbishments, we were contacted by Network Rail because of our experience working on high-profile infrastructure projects across London.
Time-sensitive Oxford glazing installation
For the Oxford Railway Station installation, we were required to complete the work on a Saturday night between midnight and 4am while the station was closed and no trains were running. The installation was under strict time constraints and if we continued to work after 6am we would have faced large financial penalties.
To enhance the railway station, we installed five glass units to the stairwell and gantry bridge. The units were 11mm bronze laminated toughened glazing weighing just under 100kg per unit. Specialist machinery was required to move the units and we had to be extra careful when manually handling the glazing.
We successfully completed the installation on time and without any damage to the units. Oxford Railway Station was able to open as usual the following morning and is now functioning as normal but with an enhanced and safer environment for both passengers and railway workers.