In March 2022, we were tasked with fabricating new access gates for a top London university to act as a physical deterrent for a listed building at the university’s residential campus. The client wanted the gates to uphold the aesthetic of the heritage building and ‘look as though they had been found in the basement’ of the university.

The client presented us with a unique brief, and it was necessary to gain design approval from multiple stakeholders, including the Local Council and Conservation & Heritage. To have the best chance of achieving approval from all parties, it was necessary to carry out sufficient style research within heritage archives and online databases. We also engaged a fabricator and blacksmith to calculate the anticipated weight of the gates so that we could produce accurate CAD drawings that included the addition of automation and access control for the client’s review.

The gates were fabricated and successfully installed in July 2022.