Member Article

Access North Structures win three-year maintenance contract for Llangollen Pavilion

Huddersfield’s Access North Structures has been awarded a three-year contract to oversee the ongoing maintenance of iconic music venue, Llangollen Pavilion.

The Welsh town of Llangollen plays host to one of the world’s most inspirational cultural festivals every summer. Around 4,000 performers and up to 50,000 visitors converge within its international pavilion for the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod – a significant milestone on the global choral calendar.

Access North Structures’ latest maintenance contract follows a successful one-off project for the same venue in 2017. The Yorkshire tensile fabric specialists carried out inspection, maintenance and installation work on the temporary extension of the world-famous setting.

Four new fire doors were also designed, fabricated and installed, to help increase capacity.

Following a successful bid for an extended contract, Access North Structures will now be responsible for overseeing the meticulous assembly and disassembly of the 1,000m² tensile fabric auditorium extension until 2020. Supported by 12 steel struts that extend from the main pavilion, it takes around two weeks to build the vast 10m high arena annexe, using primarily rope access techniques.

In addition, Access North Structures will undertake the annual maintenance of the permanent tensile fabric roof. This entails a full visual inspection and cleaning of the canopy, in order to provide Denbighshire County Council with a comprehensive condition report.

Commenting on the project, Robin Jones building surveyor at Denbighshire County Council said: “The robust nature of the canopy material means it is built to withstand the pressures of repeated assembly and dismantling, but recurrent use naturally creates wear and tear. We therefore sought a knowledgeable and experienced tensile fabric specialist who could ensure the professional and compliant installation of this famed extension.”

Berenice Northcott, managing director of the access North Structures elaborated: “The care we took with the setup of the extension to ensure its condition was retained during the build – plus the methodical process we followed when disassembling the structure – means the installation will be even more efficient next year.”

Ahead of the winter weather, the hundreds of different component parts have been systematically labelled and safely packed away for storage until the 2019 festival.

With the disassembly of the extension and all maintenance work having now concluded for 2018, Access North Structures will oversee the build and take-down of the canopy for the next two years, as well as any repairs to the fabric and supporting structures prior to and following the annual event.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .