Challenge

IOTA was commissioned to design, manufacture and install bespoke architectural metalwork at the newly-opened Globe View Riverside Walk on the north bank of the River Thames, between Southwark and Blackfriars Bridges.

Scope of works

  • Bespoke handrail designed to maximise natural light into the walkway. Featuring a hand-twisted fin arrangement to give a smooth, transitional 'wave effect' across the length of the handrail. Capped with a rounded Cumaru strip, softening the rails whilst contrasting with the specialist paint colour.
     

  • Highly-durable anti-sleeper fins were fabricated for the pedestal of the main viewpoint. Replicating the quarter-twist feature of the handrail, these not only prevent unwanted behaviour, but also provide a consistency, unifying the components in the central section of the walkway.
     

  • High-grade expanded metal mesh, cut and rolled by hand to enable a snug fit to each of the ledges within the walkway. The mesh acts both as a safety measure to deter accessibility to the ledges; and also as an artistic feature, where the specific style was chosen to distort the enclosed lighting, rendering a mesmerising 'liquid ripple' display of coloured light to the ceiling of the walkway.
     

  • To ensure longevity of the project, all components were subjected to a hot dip galvanisation (HDG) process, prior to a high-spec powder-coating finish in a custom colour. The HDG layer underneath the powder coat gives the metalwork a ‘wrought’ character, in keeping with the aged brickwork.
     

  • Long-term maintenance of lighting features had to be considered, therefore each mesh assembly encompasses hinged opening panels, allowing technicians access to the lights.

About the Globe View Riverside Walk

The Globe View Riverside Walk completes the Thames Path, by re-opening and enhancing a section of the path which has been closed for two decades. The walkway is covered. The works by The City of London Corporation include refurbished brickwork, new coloured lighting, and opening up ‘Instagrammable’ views of iconic riverside landmarks, including the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern and Millennium Bridge.

IOTA bespoke architectural metalwork

The Globe View Riverside Walk is one example of bespoke architectural metalwork produced by IOTA. The range of bespoke architectural metalwork solutions previously supplied by IOTA includes:

  • Artwork

  • Frontages, cladding and canopies

  • Lighting and signage

  • Pergolas and pagodas

  • Handrails and balustrades