Sunderland Station

Eltherington’s stainless steel column casings were a crucial component in the construction of the Whitehall Road office block in Leeds, which is attached to the rear of Leeds Rail Station.

The column casings were made from 316-grade supa-mirror polished stainless steel and had a secret fix design, which included galvanised steel and aluminium helping hand brackets. Eltherington was also responsible for manufacturing an internal and external entrance feature door surround.

The column casings were supplied in three different styles: full column casing, semi-circle column casing, and 3/4 column casing. The full column casing was supplied as a two-part semi-circle, incorporating a secret fix hook on detail. Some of the columns were up to 8 meters in height and were achieved with internal column casing at 4000mm joint levels. The semi-circle column casing was face-fixed back to the building and secretly fixed directly to the building. The 3/4 column casing was a specialised tooling solution that allowed Eltherington to supply it as one piece, resulting in a visually superior solution compared to multi-piece column casings.

The polished stainless steel finish required exact manufacturing tolerances to ensure that the curved radii and jointing detail were seamless and free from imperfections that could be highlighted by reflected light. Eltherington’s specialist tooling enabled them to meet the technically challenging design of supplying 3/4 column casing. Eltherington’s finishing department supplied the column casings with a supa-mirror finish, as specified, resulting in a stunning visual effect. Overall, Eltherington’s expertise and attention to detail were essential in creating a prestigious office block that is sure to impress.