Bespoke column casings for Leicester retail park
A high profile refurbishment and re-fit project at Leicester’s Fosse Park South Retail Centre is using four 9000mm high Forma aluminium column casings from Encasement to create new attractive shop fronts for two key furnishing brands.
Formerly a double fronted PC World store, the retail unit has been converted into two separate stores for leading specialist furnishing retailers Oak Furniture Land and Sofology, who join more than 30 other shops and restaurants at the centre.
Supplied and installed by Encasement, the 650mm wide column casings are designed to provide a practical solution to conceal structural steelwork on either side of the store entrances, while also integrating with their glazed facades and improving the aesthetics.
Each of the four bespoke column casings is manufactured from 3mm aluminium and finished with a durable white RAL 9010 PPC coating to complement the retail park’s overall design scheme while also providing further weathering protection to the corrosion-resistant metal casings.
Encasement manufactured the casings to the precise curved profile required to conceal the existing steelwork, with three separate 3000mm sections being stacked and jointed to reach the overall height of 9000mm. During installation, each of the three sections was installed in sequence with a virtually invisible vertical joint running the entire height of the casing.
Martin Taylor, Encasement’s Managing Director, explained: “Forma casings are an ideal solution for retail, as they can be used in either interior or exterior applications and be a manufacturer in a range of standard circular or square shapes or to bespoke profiles and dimensions to suit a specific project, as utilised at Fosse Park.”
He added: “The wide range of finishes available also makes them extremely versatile, which allows designers a high degree of individuality, which is vital in retail environments.”
