5000 Series Facade Access System for 18 Robinson in Singapore
18 Robinson, or the Robinson Tower, is a 180-metre-tall mixed-use tower located in the modern city of Singapore. Designed by renowned architecture firm, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, the recently constructed building has been recognised with a variety of awards, including the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s 2021 Award of Excellence in the categories of Best Tall Building (100m-199m) and Urban Habitat (Single Site Scale).
What’s more, the Robinson Tower was bestowed with the Gold Plus Universal Design award in the Non-Residential category by the Building and Construction Authority. Featuring abundant open-plan Grade-A office space alongside retail tenants, the unique building was recognised for visitor-friendly design features including Singapore’s first automated car parking system, expansive open-air sky gardens, and smart app for visitors with an indoor way-finding system.
A facade access system able to accommodate the buildings triangular shape and irregular building openings was required to ensure its long-term maintenance. With the buildings crown specifically designed with a trellis opening to house a building maintenance unit, CoxGomyl were required to deliver a façcde access solution that fit within the required dimensions of this space.
As a result, CoxGomyl provided a twin track-mounted building maintenance unit featuring a telescopic mast and luffing jib for superior access to the facade below the sloping crown. The CoxGomyl 5000 Series BMU can achieve total facade access of the building with an outreach of 22.5 metres. What’s more, the system is installed with a soft rope restraint system for when the cradle is working at inward sloping facade elevations.
Throughout the design of this façade access solution, CoxGomyl were required to overcome challenges related to the parking of the unit. With the lower part of the telescopic mast protruding below the track level, the process of operating and returning the specialised BMU to its storage location requires specialised safety features, provided by the CoxGomyl engineering team.
