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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE HOME OF STREET FURNITURE
ISSUE 3 FEBRUARY 2013
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PERFORMA-CAST ™ A new direction for street furniture A new street furniture manufacturing material is set to challenge perennial favourites cast iron, steel and timber in 2013. Performa-Cast™ is our range of durable polymer street furniture which offers strength and quality matched with the flexibility to meet the specific design needs for individual projects.
BENEFITS OF PERFORMA-CAST™ • Non ferrous, non rusting surface
The polymer street furniture range features an engineering grade polyurethane cast over a steel core. This means it offers all the aesthetic benefits of cast iron combined with the strength of steel but with superior durability. We’ve already had a number of customers order their existing heritage designs in the new material and have created Performa-Cast™ bollards, fingerposts and seating. Call us to see how the Performa-Cast™ range can lower the lifecycle maintenance costs of your projects.
• No need for regular re-painting, saving £1000s on annual maintenance • Stronger than cast iron equivalents • Lighter and easier to install • Lower residual value so less attractive to thieves • Available in unique designs to maintain local identity
THE LATEST GOSS...
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Fingerpost Jonathan Goss Managing Director
Happy New Year to you all and I wish you a prosperous 2013. At the start of each new year I like to take stock of the past 12 months as well as thinking about what the next year may hold. Even though it seems we are starting to see the light at the end of the recession tunnel, maintenance budgets are still being tightly squeezed. This is hugely frustrating to both those in procurement as well as designers and architects. We all want the best materials and products for our projects and that’s why I believe polymer ranges will grow in popularity this year. We’re working hard to develop our Performa-Cast™ range to offer a durable, yet cost effective option for your street furniture requirements. Perimeter security is also an area of growing importance. This year we will be extending our PAS 68 security range as the terrorist threat to our public buildings and spaces remains. This includes a range of heritage PAS 68 bollard sleeves in Performa-Cast™. If you have a bespoke or specific street furniture or security requirement, please don’t hesitate to contact me to see what solution Townscape can deliver for you.
Email me at jonathan.goss@ townscape-products.co.uk
Jonathan Goss
facelift
The fingerposts of Dulwich have been given a facelift thanks to our bespoke range of polymer directional fingerposts with a heritage timber-effect design. We were briefed by Southwark Council to create new directional fingerposts which would not only look attractive and fit into the local surroundings, but would also be resistant to the elements.
Our solution was to create a polymer mould which produced posts in an attractive white timber-grained effect. Despite appearing like natural timber, the posts will not rot or need re-painting as timber would. The new posts are virtually maintenance free, saving the council considerable time and money.
NEW online security resource We’ve launched ConcreteBarriersHQ, an online guide to protecting buildings and premises from vehicle-borne threats. The guide has been designed for security consultants, facilities managers, contractors and local authorities. There is an increasingly significant requirement for security and protection of public buildings and spaces from criminal and terrorist
attacks. Several years ago we identified this danger and developed the PAS 68 CT Block to stop vehicle-based attacks. We felt it was important to share our research and knowledge on perimeter protection through an online resource. ConcreteBarriersHQ explains the importance of hostile vehicle mitigation and the PAS 68 standard, as well as showing how the CT Block has helped protect many of the UK’s airports and high profile buildings. We’ve also developed a free downloadable fact sheet on perimeter protection. Visit www.concretebarriershq.co.uk
FOUR OF THE BEST As one of the wettest winters on record continues, here’s a selection of our top winter products to help keep out the cold and rain.
Waiting shelter
Stairway canopy
Stay dry in cold, wet winter days with an affordable Townscape waiting shelter. This shelter can be manufactured to your requirements from anodized aluminium, galvanised mild steel, stainless steel and hard and soft timbers. Different configurations are also available with optional perch seating.
Protect stairways from water and ice with a covered canopy. The stairway canopy can be incorporated into a small retaining wall and the steel galvanised finish is contemporary in style whilst robust to the elements. We can develop bespoke designs for your specific needs and project manage the installation process.
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Covered walkways
Grit bins
These are ideal for retailers and facilities with dispersed buildings and open areas as a way to interconnect buildings whilst protecting customers and staff from the elements. Our walkways come in a variety of styles and configurations and our project team will work with designers to develop the right solution for your requirements.
Perfect for roadside or car park storage of salt, grit and sand. The Townscape grit bins are rust, rot and weather resistant and available in yellow as standard, with green, red and black also available. The grit bins come in 200 litre and 400 litre sizes. Townscape bins are ideal for public locations as they have a vandal resistant double skin lid.
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// See the whole Townscape range of walkways at www.townscape24.com
Double stacking cycle racks for Peterborough After the summer of sport the bosses at Peterborough railway station were faced with a surge in the number of customers arriving on bikes. They tasked Townscape with designing a solution to increase bike storage capacity without using additional space. The Townscape team created and installed double stacking cycle racks which can hold 144 bikes; four times the number of bikes traditional cycle storage facitlities can hold. Townscape’s double stacking racks are made from galvanised steel, feature a security locking loop and are manufactured with a low maintenance finish.
IN THE
NEWS At the end of 2012 Townscape created a media hype when we launched our ‘Bollards of Britain 19732013’ calendar. The Times called it ‘the calendar to die for’; Local Government News held a twitter competition to give their coveted copy away, the editor of Building magazine felt it was a career highlight and readers of Bollards of London were requesting copies in their masses. When not putting bollards on the map, our MD, Jonathan has been regularly blogging for Architect’s Choice on the importance of design in protecting buildings and public areas and was profiled in the business section of the Nottingham Evening Post.
The compact and space efficient solution gives cyclists a safe and secure storage facility for bikes which we think will be replicated in stations, offices and car parks across the UK.
ARCHITECT’S Q&A QUESTION I’m a landscape architect working on a local authority project which has a strong emphasis on the environment. How can I incorporate sustainable practices through the use of street furniture, particularly in terms of waste management?
ANSWER Reducing landfill waste is a priority for local authorities. Indeed, under the EU Landfill Directive, in 2013 the UK is obliged to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill by 50 per cent (based on the amount of this material landfilled in 1995). The good news is the UK is set to achieve this and street furniture has a key part to play. Recycling bins are being specified more regularly as part of local authority procurement and the public are becoming accustomed to using recycling bins. Colour-coded bins not only add variety to a project but can also be used to clearly divide different types of waste. Recycling, and the use of sustainable materials is a definite growth area in street furniture and we can advise landscape architects on the most sustainable materials for their schemes. If you have a question for Jonathan please email: jonathan.goss@townscape-products.co.uk
CONTACT Jonathan Goss Managing Director Telephone: 01623 513355 Email: jonathan.goss @townscape-products.co.uk
Jess Fergusson Business Development Manager Telephone: 01623 513355 Email: jess.fergusson @townscape-products.co.uk