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Continuing a long association with London Underground, Superform have completed a contract to supply tunnel cladding panels for the Jubliee Line Extension at Waterloo Station. The panels demonstrate the great flexibility of the process for architectural design, combining aesthetics with the high performance demands of tunnel lining.

London Underground Project Engineer Sui- Te Wu says “There were a number of reasons for selecting the Superform process, not least because the unique "vacuum form" panelling system enables designers to exploit the possibility of expressing panel design in three dimensions.

When we looked at available processes we found that most other panelling systems were limited to producing panels in two dimensions and for the Waterloo project we needed the higher structural properties that you can only get from 3D panels which are much more durable in comparison to 2D panels of the same material and thickness.

Above Left: Perforated Superformed panel
Above Right: Plain Superformed panel

The Superform process also eliminates the need for welding as required in most of the traditional 'tray' panels.

This allowed us to use pre-finished aluminium sheets to form the finished product, which was a big time saving benefit.

Its other advantage is on the precision and reduced panel cost in bulk production. The use of the process was chosen appropriately for the various tunnel conditions and panel fixing details were designed into the tunnel segments, providing flexibility on the extent of panelling in the life cycle of the station with no add-on cost as well as facilitating straightforward installation.

The use of state of the art systems such as "Superform" panels is in line with the design ethos for the Jubilee Line Extension. It is cost effective, modern, versatile, easy to reproduce and maintain.

Superform worked closely with the design team during construction and carried out various material and structural tests to back up the design. The finished products are precisely to specification and of an extremely high standard”.