The CIS Tower is an office skyscraper in Manchester that was completed in 1962 and 118m tall. It is Manchester’s second-tallest building and the tallest office building in the United Kingdom outside London.
Sky Climber was selected to replace the original window cleaning system from the 80’s on the tower level with a replacement BMU system that complied with current European Norms.
The challenge was to design a machine that could run on the existing runway and rail. The machine needed to pass through tight rail bends and arounds multiple obstacles on the roof.
The cradle is modular with a single basket and double deck twin-baskets configurations on the same BMU machine. The double-deck configuration is used to service the photovoltaic panels on the tower facades. The conversion from single basket to twin basket needs to be done with the maximum of ease, but still meeting all the safety requirements of EN1808.