Background

Manchester Oxford Road station is in the heart of Manchester and sits atop of Oxford Street, which is one of the city’s most important and pivotal roads. The road runs south of the city and connects Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan into the popular student expanse of Farrowfield.

Approach

Manchester is one of the most thriving cities in the UK with over 8 million passing through the train station annually. As towns and city centres ramped up preparations for the busy Christmas shopping and markets period, the temporary Hostile Vehicle Mitigation solution by Marshalls, the RhinoGuard® Steel GateKeeper® offered the perfect solution to be used as a protective measure over this period in 2019, with a plan to replace this with Marshalls Demetra Benches, to provide an area for people to relax.

Solution

GateKeeper® is surface mounted and completely modular, meaning it is suitable for use in any space, and each of the elements can be removed to allow easy access for emergency services vehicles. Requiring no anchorage, the unique system was installed for 65 days, starting at the beginning of December and transitioning into the New Year.

Following the busy Christmas period, GateKeeper® was removed and replaced with 5 contemporary Demetra Benches which were supplied and fitted by Marshalls. Manufactured with white Carrara Stone with an anti-graffiti coating and finished with Movingui Hardwood slats, the Demetra range is available in a selection of concrete and precious stone aggregates, designed to fit perfectly into a number of urban settings. The system allows for limitless tailored configurations and comprises of a bench, seat and planter with a choice of options to give the client a bespoke unit.

Outcome

Incorporating new contemporary benches outside of Oxford Road station will provide additional seating for commuters for many years to come. The choice of the Demetra benches provide functional and aesthetic benefits, which works perfectly with the contemporary design of the Oxford Road station.