Novum Structures is an international market leader specialising in innovative architectural structures. We have over 35 years of successfully working as a Design & Build company within the construction industry.

Novum preconstruction design and engineering teams are globally recognised, and they pride themselves on the use of high-quality materials to enhance their projects. Their engineers are well versed in how to help you design and integrate the necessary products and materials into functional structures.

They have engineered, fabricated, and installed thousands of projects around the world, utilising a cohesive systems approach to Glass, Structure, and ETFE. There is no project too big or too small for their sales, engineering, and preconstruction teams to collaborate on. They work on canopies, facades, atriums, and skylights of any size.

Novum provides local sales, project management, and field services to ensure complete customer satisfaction and communicate throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Their interchangeable systems have been developed to meet a variety of price-points and we can tailor individual projects accordingly. They work collaboratively in the development of technical solutions that embrace design intent while being highly respectful of cost.

Over the years, Novum has worked on a selection of infrastructure projects, ranging from airports, such as Heathrow Terminal 3, to dozens of train and bus stations with both Glass, Steel and Novum ETFE.

A recent infrastructure collaboration was between Novum and Keir Construction on the roof structure, including steelwork and ETFE pillows, for the new transport hub located in the centre of Bolton, Manchester. Bolton Interchange forms a key component of the Town Centre Transport Strategy, providing a pedestrian link between bus and rail.

Novum was instrumental from the early stages of design, with a coordinated approach to developing the design of the roof structure and the interface with the other elements of the project. Novum’s 3D modelling offered a representative view of the construction information for buildability checks and coordination between all subcontractor’s work elements.

The central location of the project presented its challenges; restrictions on delivery times and the requirement for all deliveries to be pre-booked and coordinated to avoid any potential congestion within the town centre and approach roads both proved difficult.

All vehicles delivering to the site followed a one-way route for entry and exit of the town which needed to be enforced throughout the Novum supply chain. The site was also bound by live railway lines and an existing bus station which offered more challenges for the construction team.

Restrictions on cranes had to be considered during the sequencing and planning for the build to avoid disturbance to the existing train lines. The sensitive working location presented its fair share of challenges but none that the Novum team could not overcome.

The steelwork for the roof structure was designed, detailed, and fabricated in sections to accommodate the transport restrictions. Members were suitably sized for delivery and installation. Bespoke cradles were also designed and fabricated to allow the long rafter sections to be lifted, laid out, assembled, and spliced together before installation at roof level.

Loading restrictions to the perimeter of the Novum ETFE roof needed to be considered during the analysis and design of the ETFE steelwork. A central support was designed as a tree column structure, with support branches connected to some of the tubular rafters to offer additional support and reduce loading to the parameters.

Support for the ETFE pillows came from tubular rafters of various lengths from a combination of the perimeter primary steelwork and the central column. Additional branches were then added to offer a more ‘tree like’ aesthetic.

The fast-paced installation programme was phased to accommodate interfacing trades. To assist with this, a mobile self-erecting crane was utilised for installation of the steelwork, offering faster rigging times, greater radius, slew restrictions to avoid clashes with the railway lines, and increased productivity during lifting.

The operator had full sight of lifting operations from his elevated position. The installation was sequenced for the stability of the structure and perimeter supporting steelwork.

For the ETFE pillow installation work, positioning netting was utilised to offer greater flexibility during installation and to reduce requirements for access plant or scaffolding.

Installation technicians were fast and efficient with the installation of the ETFE pillows and ensured the air machine was correctly located and fully operational for the handover of the completed roof.

The Novum ETFE was produced by their 100% climate-neutral membrane facility in Germany. The material was selected by the architects to enhance the experience within the structure as well as offer the most efficient cost sustainably.

Have you got a project you need help with? Contact their team today at info@novumstructures.co.uk or call 01379 640040 to speak to an advisor.