Spinlock is a world leader in the design and manufacture of fibre rope-holding equipment for the sailing industry. The firm had been looking to widen the application of its technology and one area it chose to investigate was the building industry.

Spinlock commissioned a Design Workshop to explore this potential sector. Soon into the process Sean Billings of Billings Design Associates put forward the idea of a suspended, cable stayed glazing system. This would consist of a lightweight and elegant wall of glass, held on tensioned cables of fibres using Spinlock’s Clutch mechanism to support the panels.

The demand was clear, in that the building market seeks new and ever higher quality solutions in shorter and shorter time frames. Architects, engineers, façade designers and design installation firms are under pressure to create unique solutions out of tested, pre-engineered products. Few standard products meet these requirements.

The Flexxwall solutions has been built and further developed with GIG in Austria.