FlexiGlide sliding shutter Costa Coffee, Bristol University Campus

The University of Bristol were opening a Costa Coffee concession at their Bower Ashton Campus and needed to secure the Coffee Shop out of hours. However, traditional roller shutters would not work for the coffee shop setup.

Initially it was unclear how to how best secure the Coffee Shop, as it was based in a very open area, while the high ceiling and limited support structure did not lend themselves well to traditional roller shutters.

Importance of the right support structure

FlexiGlide sliding shutters are made from aluminium, which makes them relatively lightweight, compared to roller shutters. Still, the structure that a sliding shutter hangs from has to be able to support the weight of the shutter along its entire length (also see FlexiGlide design and build guidelines).

The curtain of a sliding shutter hangs from an extruded aluminium track, which normally fixes onto the ceiling structure.

Typically, the shutter track screws onto the ceiling structure and can be either recessed or left visible. The shutter curtain then hangs from this top-track through a system of hangers and rollers. This allows the shutter to slide horizontally along the track. When it reaches the end of the track, it concertinas up.

Supporting the track and shutter at Bristol University

The designers realised that, with a few adjustments to the area, our Flexiglide sliding shutter system would work perfectly. There was timber slat system to the ceiling area, meaning we could not take the shutter to the ceiling. The answer was to fit Unistrut through the timber slates down to the height of the shutter's top-track, where we then hung the sliding shutter from this support.

The result

The resulting security shutter and support system all in black, create a clear open space when the Coffee Shop is open, and a classy secure area with the shutter closed.