Webnet railings, Third Space, Udaipur

Third Space is a science centre in Udaipur, designed by Studio SAAR, with open interior galleries and spiral stairs that rise in towers. The architects wanted the railings to show what stainless ropes and mesh can do, while keeping the building completely safe for the children who visit. One mesh, Jakob Webnet, was used for the gallery railings, the spiral-stair enclosure and the tower nets. Acier designed, supplied and installed all of it.

In a science centre, railings are part of the exhibit. They must protect every gallery edge for young visitors, but balusters or glass panels would add weight and reflections to an open interior. The railings also vary across the building, with different edges calling for frames, posts or edge ropes. The spiral stair adds its own geometry: a curved, rising edge that is hard to follow with rigid panels.

Along the galleries, Webnet in Ø2 mm stainless rope with a 60 mm mesh width forms the railing infill, over 100 m in all. Each edge uses the detail that suits it: mesh laced into stainless frames, between posts, or onto tensioned edge ropes. The diamond mesh reads as a soft texture rather than a line of bars, and at 60 mm it is close enough to keep children safe.

At the spiral stair, the flexibility of Webnet matters. The mesh can be tensioned into curved and twisting shapes, so it wraps the stair and follows its rise without a series of flat facets. The curved stair was the hardest part of the job. In all, about 1,300 m² of Webnet went into the building on a framework of Jakob Ø6 mm ropes with clevises and turnbuckles, and the work on site ran for about six months.

The gallery railings, the stair enclosure and the tower nets read as one system. Every edge is protected, children can see across the building through the mesh, and the centre keeps its open, connected interior. The project was handed over on 26 July 2024. See also the stair tower safety nets in the same building.