The London Tube, towers and a controversial plan

Avire Light Curtains for Tube’s First Inclined Lift

The first inclined lift in the London Tube has been outfitted with Memco Panachrome light curtains from Avire. The company also supplied LED dot-matrix displays that provide passengers at Greenford Station information about the current position of the lift, which replaced an escalator. Four more inclined lifts are planned at the Farrington and Liverpool Street stations as part of the Crossrail project. London Underground engineer Jon Spragg said the system works for two reasons:

“You’ve got the visual display as the lift doors open and close, which is great for meeting the Equality Act and keeping customers safe. But it is also very good for keeping people out of the path of doors, reducing faults and ensuring efficiency of lift flight times and passenger service.”

Manchester Plan Moves Forward Despite Opposition

Developers Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs have submitted plans for the mixed-use St. Michael’s 31- and 21-story towers designed by Make in Manchester, U.K., close to the town hall, The Architects’ Newspaper reported. The towers’ color has been changed from black to bronze in response to complaints of them being “dark,” but that matters little to preservationists alarmed about the proposed demolition of several historic buildings, including an 1800s pub. Still, the developers, former soccer players, are confident about their plan, which has been in the works for a decade, and hope to be onsite by the summer. If built, St. Michael’s will have a hotel with approximately 200 rooms, nearly 160 apartments and office space.

Calatrava Design for London’s Greenwich Peninsula

A design by Santiago Calatrava for a trio of 30-story towers has been unveiled for Greenwich Peninsula in London, Building Design reported. The towers will stand 30 stories and include a winter garden at 80 ft., a 500-ft.-long glass galleria and a land bridge to the Thames River. The US$1.2 billion project will also have a 340,000-sq.-ft. hotel and up to 500,000 sq. ft. of office space. The developer is Knight Dragon, which also plans to build close to 16,000 new homes in seven new neighborhoods. The towers, which have an appearance reminiscent of bridges, are expected to start taking shape by early 2018 and be complete in 2021.