RETAIL PARK BUYS INTO INTERLINK
As out-of-town retail parks metamorphose from "grin-and-bear-it" Sunday afternoon trips into attractive, multi functional destinations for all members of the family, property investors and design teams are paying greater attention than ever to the visual appeal of the parks.

Such outlets are regularly springing up on brownfield - and greenfield - sites across the country, but gone are the days when a simple, cavernous warehouse with the barest of fittings housing "hot deals" would suffice to attract the paying customer. Now, retail parks are as likely to include a fun and funky fastfood drive-through as a furniture retailer; or perhaps a coffee shop alongside a sportswear shop. The result? A revival in demand for modern, cleverly designed buildings that are easy on the eye, fulfil a wide range of retailers' needs and enhance the shopping experience for all types of customer.

The trend for attention to design detail is bringing even greater success to companies such as Interlink Fabrications. Interlink is the UK's leading supplier of ancillary products for industrial buildings in particular, specialising in architectural features, cladding systems, ventilators and louvres, rainwater products and other essential finishing touches including flashings.

Interlink's unique fixing systems, combined with the versatility of its products and the skills and knowledge of its technicians, have effectively gifted architects with a new lease of life when it comes to designing retail parks and other commercial projects. Nowhere is this more obvious than on Chester Road in Manchester, where a KFC Drive-Thru and a DFS Sofa outlet were two of the first retailers to benefit from pioneering new designs facilitated by Interlink and AMS Cladding.

Interlink has a long-standing association with AMS Cladding: the two companies have collaborated on a number of projects of varying size throughout the North of England. When AMS was appointed to the prestigious Chester Road project by contractor Bluestone, it was only natural that a call to Interlink would follow soon after, asking them to provide many vital components including aluminium column casings, bullnoses, fascias and soffits and even the complex membrane composite gutters.

A prime site neighbouring the Old Trafford football ground, it was important that the buildings were distinctive and practical enough to attract the right retailers - and persuade customers to take a diversion off the busy A56, as well as to make deliberate journeys to the site. Although Interlink is renowned for using state-of-the-art technology to produce eye-catching and unique architectural features, there is no doubt that this was one of its biggest challenges to date.

Interlink sales manager Mike Travis explained: "The units were designed in such a way as to create a roadside feature in their own right. Whilst we were confident that we could achieve the desired effect, limited timescales and other restrictions meant we had to approach the project in an extremely methodical, focused manner in order to ensure our high quality standards were maintained throughout the planning and manufacturing stages."

AMS involved Interlink early in the project, meaning that the firm could take part in pre-construction site meetings to finalise design features, and then work closely alongside other partners throughout the supply chain. Interlink technicians took meticulous on-site measurements and cross-checked them at every stage of production, to ensure an accurate fit and clean finish. Naturally, 3D models were also produced for Bluestone and AMS to visualise the finished buildings.

Interlink was instrumental in the final design of the sub-frame supporting the buildings' 12-metre-high entrance cladding towers, as well as adjustments to the design of the towers themselves to facilitate quicker fitting and finishing. The Drive-Thru KFC building brought further, deadline-related challenges, for which the solution was to specify Interlink's 2mm thick PVDf pre-coated aluminium sheets with secret fix system for the fascia and panel work. After years of supplying millions of square metres of its class-leading sheets, Interlink can be sure of the demand and so keeps an extensive colour range in stock - ideal for meeting short deadlines.

The project, completed in less than six months, is a credit to all partners and AMS is already working with Interlink on several other sites using similar techniques. An added benefit to all Interlink customers - including AMS - is the compatibility of its materials with Kingspan and Ward products, enabling the company to provide a full hassle-free package to the client where required. Add to this the reassurance of quality work from a reputable market leader, backed up by comprehensive product guarantees, and it's no surprise that the race to provide new, innovative retail park design is being led by Interlink Fabrications.