Sitting 230 metres above the London skyline is the very top of the iconic stainless steel spine that famously adorns the Heron Tower. Officially named as 110 Bishopsgate, the building is the tallest in the city's financial district and is known for its 32 metre spire, the peak of which houses an aircraft warning light.
As striking as the building’s spire appears, the challenge for its owners Heron International was how to clean, maintain and repair the light. With safety paramount, manual external access was simply too risky. Looking for a solution, architects for the project approached SERAPID knowing if any technology could deliver the impossible, SERAPID’s LinkLift system could. SERAPID set about designing a bespoke lift and guiding system small enough to be installed into the 25cm diameter spire. The light itself was fitted to a miniature lifting platform that, unseen to the eye, can bring the light safely down a further 17 metres below the top of the roof into a plant room. There it can be maintained before the non hydraulic lift drive system raises the light back into position. What most people don’t know though is that briefly, as the light is re-positioned using this space saving technology, it is lifted a further 5cms in order for the rubber gasket seal that makes it watertight to be locked into place.
Such extreme precision is unique to SERAPID’s LinkLift technology making it the only company in the world capable of designing and delivering a project like this.