Dragon" gates have giant appeal!

Citation

(2002), "Dragon" gates have giant appeal!", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 49 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2002.12849aab.004

"Dragon" gates have giant appeal!

Keywords: Galvanizing, Design

It's not often that anyone is asked to galvanize something that's going to function as a useful product and as a pictorial work of art both at the same time.But that's the request Merseyside Galvanizing Ltd, a member of the Wedge Group, fulfilled when they treated these gates which have been distinctively designed and fabricated in the shape of an abstract dragon.

The order came from regular customer AMV Engineering Ltd, of Burscough, Lancashire, structural steel and architectural metalworkers, who have provided the popular gates for the entrance to Green Dragon Yard, a housing association development off High Holborn in Central London. The yard is pedestrian only and the gates keep vehicles away and make the housing scheme private for residents.

Merseyside hot dip galvanized three- quarters of a tonne of mild steel which makes up the two gates, two sidepieces and two circular support pillars - six different items in all. The largest item, the bigger of the two gates, measures approximately 2.6 metres high at its tallest point, by 3.6 metres wide.

After galvanizing, AMV then had the work painted and coloured glass panels were used as infills to add extra visual appeal.

Waiter Liley, owner and founder of AMV Engineering, a family business, said the gates were galvanized to ensure a long life, free from corrosion, in the heart of the capital.

The end result really looks attractive. Architects from America and Europe have turned up to look at them. That's the amount of interest there is, he said.

Genesis of the imaginative dragon design came in the form of a small freehand sketch from Monahan Blythen Architects, and AMV then used their own in-house Computer Aided Design system to determine dimensions and sizes.

The company used special techniques to fabricate 6mm thick flat plate into a profile representing the dragon. The plate was then welded onto the main framework of -the gates, made up of solid bars and rectangular hollow sections.

Merseyside also galvanized mild steel flat profiled posts and rolled tubular handrails for 20 bow-shaped balconies as part of the same project. These have been erected outside the Green Dragon Yard apartments.

Mark Hammond, Commercial Manager at Merseyside Galvanizing, commented:

Normally the decorative gates we get have detail, like a rose, that's just part of the gate. The dragon gates make a picture in themselves. We're more than happy to look at any unique shape (Plate 2).

Plate 2 "Dragon" gates at the entrance of Green Dragon Yard, High Holborn, London

Galvanizing - and an idyllic setting! .... That's one way of summing up another prestige job recently completed by a member of the Wedge Group, South West Galvanizers Ltd which has processed hundreds on tonnes of mild steel for the new Eden Project at St Austell in Cornwall.

The assignment - an 18-month contract - is believed to have proved how well hot dip galvanized work fits in with a Green environment.

Output from Wedge Group's plant at Crediton, Devon, included dozens of hollow sections for window casings for the park's restaurant, tubular columns for the visitors centre, and handrails and platform's for open staircases throughout the complex.

These hollow sections typically measure 6 metres by 120 millimetres by 60 mm, with many of the tubular columns 6 metres long and with a girth of 250 mm.

The Eden Project, which opened last Spring, has involved the conversion of an old quarry into a state-of-the-art theme park with a variety of gardens from different climates.

Some of the advantages of the work we've done are that the different fixtures look visually attractive. They blend in well with the surroundings, and show that a galvanized finish can complement internal and external products.

At the same time, galvanized coatings give the finished product ideal protection against damp and humid tropical conditions, explained South West general manager Tony Wonnacott.

The Eden Project has been a wonderful thing for the area. It's proving to be very popular, and we're very proud to have been associated with it.

A Wedge Group company also reports a "commission" from the BBC.

Plate 3 Picture shows how the galvanized finish effect looks in both sun and shade, as shadows falls over the garden in Kent

South East Galvanizers Ltd galvanized a special item for a garden - a protective grille to cover a fish pond - for a BBC 2 'Homefront' programme.

The Essex-based company received the order from David Curtis Wrought Iron, of Swanley, Kent, general blacksmiths, and specialists in gates, ballustrading and fencing, who designed and manufactured the grille for Homefront's production team.

Oval shaped, the grille has been made in three sections and measures approximately 3 metres by 2 metres.It consists of 25 millimetres square mild steel weldmesh and 20 mm solid square bar frames.

It is covering a deep fishpond, containing valuable koi carp, in the garden of the featured semi- detached house at West Wickham, Kent.

The grille was hot dip galvanized at Dave's suggestion.

"I recommend galvanizing because of its durability and long life. If you just paint something that's going to go outside on the ground in all weathers, it will probably start to rust in no time - and in this case the paint could flake off down into the pond.

It's the best process you can have, and taking everything into account, including time and labour costs involved in painting, it's also cheaper.

The galvanized finish is also a good match with stainless steel tiling and other metal features in the garden".