Caunton Engineering are most pleased to have been awarded the contract for the steel-framing for structures within a new pioneering glass research and innovation facility in St Helens by main contractor Bowmer and Kirkland. It will occupy a site with links to the historic glass industry for which the town is famed. Steelwork erection has now commenced. The 15,300m2 transformational global glass research and innovation facility is reported to complete in January 2023, ready for internal fit-out.
This state-of-the-art facility, Global Centre of Excellence, will be the world’s first openly accessible test and trial furnace operation. Glass Futures will occupy and manage the building to deliver industry and government-backed research and development projects focused on decarbonising glass production. It will also provide a platform for the industry to access an experimental scale furnace to test and run trials for implementation at commercial scale on a state-of-the-art line, both collaboratively and individually.
Caunton will be supplying and erecting over 1400te of steelwork designed by consulting engineer Tetra Tech and architect AEW Architects. The Caunton technical team will be designing the connections. Caunton are delighted to be involved with such an exciting project.