October 2, 2012

A Day on Site with IQ Glass

Written by Rebecca Clayton

IQ Glass designed, supplied and installed this glass box extension to a commercial property in the busy heart of London. I joined the installers on site for a day to watch first-hand how IQ’s fantastic installations are created.

"IQ Glass designed, supplied and installed this glass box extension to a commercial property in the busy heart of London"

I arrive on site at 8am, bright and early, the busy London traffic already clogging up many of the surrounding roads. The site we are working on is front and centre in an area known as ‘Tower Vaults’ and directly above the ticket shop for the Tower of London.

Our guys are already on site, and have been for a while. Michael, the site supervisor and IQ’s installations manager, is running through the days agenda with the crew and ensuring that all the team are fully kitted up with their IQ uniform and all the relevant PPE (Personal Protection Equipment).

"the team are fully kitted up with their IQ uniform and all the relevant PPE"

Once the group are ready to roll I don my hard hat and move in for the closer shot.

The site had already been checked the night before to ensure we were all ready to go. Our Glass fins and beams had been installed a day earlier. So with a few last minute rechecks of the glass supporting structure, all that remained was for the glass to arrive.

"with a few last minute rechecks of the glass supporting structure, all that remained was for the glass to arrive"

It is a very chilly morning down by the Thames so the guys keep themselves busy with the arrival of the glass lifting equipment and vacuum frame which will be used to lift the wall and roof panels into position.

The glass arrives a short while later. I have been told this is a critical point in the agenda for today as due to the busy tourist area we are working in the glass delivery truck and crane can only stay on site for a short window of time.

The crane lifts the glass stillage’s up onto the site floor from the delivery point below the balcony. The banksman is in with the IQ installers, communicating with the crane as the stillage’s are lifted up against the back drop of the gorgeous London skyline.

With Tower Bridge and the Tower of London in sight the last of the glass is placed into position on site within our allotted time frame and the base and crane are cleared away.

"stillage’s are lifted up against the back drop of the London skyline"

The IQ team move into position and I move out of the way. Using specialist glass suction and lifting devices each individual pane of glass is lifted and levered into position one by one. From my safe perch a short distance away, a lovely steaming coffee in hands, it seems a painstaking process but our IQ installers are old hats at this, installing glass, large and small across over 60 live London sites every day means that the glass structure begins to take shape very quickly.

". Using specialist glass suction and lifting devices each individual pane of glass is lifted and levered into position one by one"

Each vertical glass panel is carefully slotted into the pre-constructed base channel, ensuring it is neatly in line with each supporting panels. Once the whole team are happy with the glass placement it is secured and is ready to be siliconed.

With all the glass for today in place that is my cue to leave. I bid our guys, who are busy clearing up the site, a good bye and hop into my IQ van to be escorted home.

When the finished photos finally arrive on my desk a few months later the team I was on site with are actually in the office. I call them all over to see their finished work. In the end I calculated that they fixed and fitted over 200m2 of glass in just 3 days!

"The fantastic glass box is now housing a well-known coffee chain"

The fantastic glass box is now housing a well-known coffee chain. I can much more greatly appreciate the end result when I understand the amount of preparation and sweat that went into creating the fantastic structure.

So if you spy one of our highly recognisable IQ Glass vans flitting around town have a wonder about where they have been and what they may be creating next.