The sculpture was incorporated into the progressive new design for the centre back in 2018 after local residents expressed the importance of the wings as part of the local community.
A complex task followed as the twelve-tonne, hand-rolled stainless steel sculpture, spanning fifteen metres, had to be raised by 3.5metres from its current position to sit atop a new footbridge. This new raised location forms part of the planned al fresco dining area that will be constructed as a focal point of the centre’s significant refurbishment plans.
The team at RED Construction, appointed for their expertise in central London developments, utilised a new innovative lifting process, the hydra capsule, to deliver this design. The twelve-tonne structure, was slowly raised, with monitoring points in place, to ensure the correct load transfer in accordance with the construction safe workplace procedures. The angel wings now stand taller and have become even more striking and iconic than ever before.
Commenting on the plans for Angel Central, Ciara Daffy, Asset Manager at CBRE Global Investors, said: “Our investment in the redevelopment of Angel Central has been a long-term plan for the destination. We wanted to provide the local community with a reimagined space and enhanced offer that includes more restaurants, outdoor seating and leisure – all building on the existing strong mix within the scheme such as O2 Academy, Vue Cinema and Frame.”
Graham Sturge, Managing Director of Farringdon based RED Construction added: “The raising of the wings was one of the key milestones for this extensive refurbishment project at Angel Central. Our expert team onsite worked together to safely manoeuvre this iconic sculpture to its newly raised position. We had to work within a limited space but the innovative technique we used ensured we delivered this within our short time frame of only five days – this is an intricate phase of the project completed successfully.”
The sculpture, designed by award-winning artist Wolfgang Buttress in 2003, was intended to symbolise life and movement, and has come to be a focal point of the area ever since – growing in popularity as an ‘Insta-hotspot’ in recent years.
This latest milestone comes as part of Angel Central’s overall £16m refurbishment which is due to be completed by the end of Autumn 2020. The masterplan will see the extension of the centre’s leisure, retail and restaurant space.
Angel Central reopened the majority of its retail stores on June 15, 2020 in line with government guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic, adopting a new ‘Safety Central’ campaign which includes many stringent measures to ensure the wellbeing of all staff, employees and visitors to Angel Central.
