In an amazing display of how versatile our UNIC mini cranes can be, Icelandic UNIC dealers Smakranar took on a number of lifting challenges at the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik, lifting around 250 tonnes of glass, steel and curtain walling over the two year project.

The Harpa Concert Hall is the new home for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and The Icelandic Opera on Reykjavik’s East Harbour development.  Smakranar used their UNIC URW-295 and UNIC URW-506 mini cranes to provide a compact lifting solution in restricted access areas.

UNIC mini cranes were regularly used to help install curtain walling and glazing to soundproof a number of the concert halls in the complex. A UNIC URW-506 lifted 36 curtain wall panels in the Silfurberg Hall which are designed to split the room into two smaller venues. 600 tonnes of steel frame, sound isolation plates and soundproof triple glazed walls were fitted inside the Nordic Lights Hall and thick timber plates and working platforms were also lifted into place by the mini cranes working in the largest main hall.

These spider cranes also worked on some of the project’s most challenging glazing jobs. After being lifted onto the sixth floor rooftop by a 25 tonne capacity crane, the UNIC URW-295 was able to lift glazed panels into position on the building’s façade. Smakranar’s mini machines fitted glass panels all over the building, ranging from 80kg to 600kg each.

The UNIC mini cranes provided some compact lifting muscle on site as they were used for several steel lifts. A UNIC URW-295 installed 900kg steel beams to the north side of the building from the rooftop to help create a series of staircases and the reinforced concrete walls of the new car park.

As well as lifting a huge amount of building materials at the Harpa centre, UNIC mini cranes also helped move some expensive sound equipment and air conditioning units. By using a mini crane to hoist the new units down an air duct hole and into the air conditioning room, the principal contractor saved time and money as they avoided knocking down several concrete walls to complete the job.

Thanks to Smakranar and their clever use of multi-purpose UNIC mini cranes, the Harpa Concert Hall was finally ready for its grand opening in May 2011, which is music to our ears!