We had to re-evaluate how we secured the cars within the case, as Mercedes would not want their cars displayed surrounded by support bracing or in foil bags. So for display purposes we had decided to remove a timber side and replace it with Perspex. We chose Perspex over glass for both structural and safety reasons. Perspex, although not as strong as glass, is more flexible and less likely to shatter. We had to source a particular type of Perspex that was not readily available. This particular type would give the same strength as glass and be incredibly scratch resistant.

By removing a timber side this raised the other issue of reducing the structural integrity of the case, which would prevent other cases from being stacked on top. This was something Mercedes had been specific about in their brief; they wanted to display multiple cars and cases in a variety of ways which included stacking. We had to determine a method that would allow the case to maintain its full structural integrity whilst being constructed without standard support. The key to this was making the cases interlock so that when they are stacked, the cases lock on to each other. This not only makes the cases more secure when they are stacked, but essentially they support each other as if they were a single case.

The construction of the cases themselves also had to be adapted. We had to use a much more intricate method. In addition we used bolted construction as this allowed the cases to be disassembled and re-used. However we had to source a particular type of bolt to provide the strength required to maintain the cases structural integrity.

To finish off the display aspect we varnished the cases, purely for presentation purposes and fitted internal lighting, which needed to be connected to an external 240V power source. In addition we fitted each case with an extraction system to ensure the temperature and moisture levels within the case could be maintained. The power supply for the lighting and extraction system are built so that only a single power source is required, regardless whether you need to power a single case or multiple cases, they can be interlinked, so only one cable is required to provide power.