The Cube is a world class building which dominates Birmingham’s skyline. Bourne Special Projects was commissioned to produce two structural steel elements, the ‘crown’ and iconic ‘fretwork screen’.

The two-storey high ‘crown’ features four overhanging wings, one in each of the building’s four corners. The angular sections were achieved by forming 30+ pre-fabricated components from a 3D model under highly accurate workshop conditions. These were delivered to site in one piece and bolted onto the core structure using two tower cranes positioned on opposing sides of the building.

The ‘fretwork screen’, nicknamed the “Tetris” which starts at level 12 and continues to the top of the building, spans the north-western elevation. Remarkably, there is no single uninterrupted line running vertically or horizontally.

Suspended from a 52m truss, spanning the outer edge of the building, the ‘fretwork screen’ is secured to a series of movement joints allowing for expansion and contraction.