Retail
Barton Square – Manchester, UK
Situated within Trafford City, Barton Square is abode to compelling leisure and luxurious high-street labels all beneath one magnificent dome and barrel-vaulted glass roof.
The Brief
The recently refurbished Barton Square shipping centre is Roman themed, with spectacular Roman murals and details enriched with gold leaf. We were asked to manufacture an avenue of artificial Washingtonia palms that would match the same level of finish and quality. On account of watering requirements, real palm trees were not an option, but the replicas had to be indistinguishable.
Our Solution
We designed solo clusters of palm trees with assorted heights and bending trunks. It was our goal for each planter of palms to have a different appearance to create a natural appearance. Our customer required 12 groups of three palms, 36 palms in total. We fabricated the palms using an internal steel core bent into shape and secured to steel baseplates. Onto the internal steel structure we added carved FR sculpting foam and sealed the piece with a solid fibre glass coating with a painted palm bark textured surface. In order to achieve the classic Washingtonia palm look, preserved palm boot husks were attached to the trunk to mimic the pruned/fallen frond appearance. To ensure the palm met the shopping centres fire requirements, we used FireSilx FR palm fronds.
The Outcome
Once installed the palm trees instantaneously brought the shopping centre to life. Due to the variation, there is a real sense of natural growth. These palm trees are 100% maintenance free, requiring no water. and are FR certified to BS 5867:Part 2: Type B.
Barton Square - UK
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