{"id":1637,"date":"2026-04-09T08:40:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/?p=1637"},"modified":"2026-04-09T08:40:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:40:35","slug":"high-standard-of-design-award-for-manchester-s-tower-of-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/?p=1637","title":{"rendered":"High standard of design award for Manchester\u2019s Tower of Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff<\/p>\n<p><meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no\"><meta http-equiv=\"X-UA-Compatible\" content=\"IE=edge\"><meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no\"><meta charset=\"utf-8\"><title>High standard of design award for Manchester\u2019s Tower of Light<\/title><meta name=\"description\" content=\"\"><meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"\"><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index,follow\"><meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index,follow\"><meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\"><meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"High standard of design award for Manchester\u2019s Tower of Light\"><meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"\"><meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"website\"><meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/press-releases\/high-standard-of-design-award-for-manchester-s-tower-of-light\/\"><meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High standard of design award for Manchester\u2019s Tower of Light\"><meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-case-study rte\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-case-study__wrap\">\n<p><span class=\"rich-text-pumps__text rte__text\">We\u2019re delighted to announce that the Tower of Light has won the High Standard of Design Award at the Structural Steel Design Awards 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In their 54<sup>th<\/sup> year, the Structural Steel Design Awards celebrate the excellence of steel construction in the UK, particularly demonstrating its potential in terms of efficiency, cost effectiveness, aesthetics, sustainability, and innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Owned by Manchester City Council and built by Vital Energi alongside Shawton Engineering, the focal point of the Civic Quarter Heat Network, which provides low-carbon heat and power to some of Manchester city centre\u2019s most iconic buildings, is the 40m Tower of Light.<\/p>\n<p>The sculptural landmark, which supports and encloses five flues, was designed by architects Tonkin Liu, and developed in collaboration with structural engineers at Arup.<\/p>\n<p>The unique shell lace tower is built from 6 and 8mm thick flat steel sheets, which were tailored, laser-cut, then welded together to create a curved stiff strong surface. During the day, polished steel reflectors move in a wave-like motion in the wind to reflect sunlight into the tower&#8217;s chambers, and during the night, LED lights directed at the polished reflectors create moving light.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"quote\">\n<div class=\"wrap quote__wrap\">\n<div class=\"swiper-container js-simple-quotes\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide\">\n<div class=\"quote__holder\"><span class=\"quote__icon\"> <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"36\" height=\"28\" viewbox=\"0 0 36 28\"><g fill=\"#F58220\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M12.319 0h3.648a2 2 0 0 1 1.838 2.788l-10.286 24A2 2 0 0 1 5.681 28H2.033a2 2 0 0 1-1.838-2.788l10.286-24A2 2 0 0 1 12.319 0zM30.319 0h3.648a2 2 0 0 1 1.838 2.788l-10.286 24A2 2 0 0 1 23.681 28h-3.648a2 2 0 0 1-1.838-2.788l10.286-24A2 2 0 0 1 30.319 0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg> <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"quote__holder\">\n<p class=\"quote__text\">This shell lace structure perfectly exemplifies the synthesis of striking architectural form, advanced engineering, iterative technical analysis (Grasshopper and LS Dyna) and craft-based fabrication. A superb example of how design can transform a utilitarian chimney into a piece of urban art, intelligently conceived and impressively executed.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"quote__author\">The Judges, <span class=\"quote__position\"> <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-case-study rte\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-case-study__wrap\">\n<p>Vital Energi\u2019s Ashley Malin, Managing Director (Solutions), said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Tower of Light is a\u00a0striking landmark in the city\u00a0centre\u00a0and the most visible manifestation of the Civic Quarter Heat Network, which is reducing carbon emissions and supporting the Manchester\u2019s transition to zero carbon by 2038. We\u2019re really pleased that intricately designed tower has been recognised by the judges and awarded the High Standard of Design Award.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more about the project <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/our-work\/manchester-civic-quarter-network\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-image rte\" data-anchor=\"\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-image__wrap\">\n<div class=\"rich-text-image__img-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rich-text-image__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/suqc4uo4\/0h7a4837.jpg?crop=0,0.10577305997849237,0,0.099531846910819871&amp;cropmode=percentage&amp;width=835&amp;height=474&amp;rnd=133095128928370000\" alt=\"ToL award\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/javascript:\" class=\"js-read-more-rte read-more-btn\">Solution detail<span class=\"btn__link font-ico-plus\"><\/span><span class=\"btn__link font-ico-minus\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-text-image rte\" data-anchor=\"\">\n<div class=\"wrap rich-text-image__wrap\">\n<div class=\"rich-text-image__img-holder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rich-text-image__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/media\/znqhegir\/tower-of-light-5883.jpg?crop=0,0.09,0,0.058502994011975978&amp;cropmode=percentage&amp;width=835&amp;height=474&amp;rnd=133095131695070000\" alt=\"Tower Of Light 5883 (1)\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vitalenergi.co.uk\/javascript:\" class=\"js-read-more-rte read-more-btn\">Solution detail<span class=\"btn__link font-ico-plus\"><\/span><span class=\"btn__link font-ico-minus\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff High standard of design award for Manchester\u2019s Tower of Light We\u2019re delighted to announce that the Tower of Light has won the High Standard of Design Award at the Structural Steel Design Awards 2022. In their 54th year, the Structural Steel Design Awards celebrate the excellence of steel construction in the UK, particularly demonstrating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ve_media_section":[3],"ve_media_year":[],"ve_sector":[],"class_list":["post-1637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","ve_media_section-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1637"},{"taxonomy":"ve_media_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_media_section&post=1637"},{"taxonomy":"ve_media_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_media_year&post=1637"},{"taxonomy":"ve_sector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalenergi.creativespark.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fve_sector&post=1637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}