Realising an artistís vision and capturing the true essence in their work is an onerous undertaking. Yet often collaboration can yield stunning results. The Aquatic Circus installation at Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth is one such project.
Ten tensile silk fish structures are suspended in the semi-circular atrium space. These bright fairground coloured fish belong to that imaginary circus created by textile artist Jan Blake. Each fish is suspended by one point allowing it to turn slowly and interact with a neighbouring fish. We created the delicate creatures from steel, fibre-glass rods and silk organza for Jan to painstakingly paint with procion dye. The effect is breath taking. Light and movement now fill the vast atrium space, transformed by an aquatic extravaganza.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in Fulham Road, London, wanted to transform a new patient seating area into a comforting space which has a private and cocooned feel. To do this, Base needed to complete a suspended lighting rig that could also carry privacy screening into the seating area within the heart of the hospital.
Base were employed to design, manufacture and install the fabric sails and lighting. We could not suspend anything directly from above the seating area and so we had to use tension cables which were rigged horizontally to fix tubular steel frames within a spider’s web of tensioned steel cables. These steel frames allowed us to form a geometric grid within the space, into which we could suspend a series of Hypar feature sails. The spaces between the sails were then used to incorporate the lighting assemblies.
The fabric sails create a contemporary yet comforting feel in the seating area and brighten up the heart of the hospital.
Our brief from was to develop an interior fabric ceiling system that would improve the customers experience within the station. The scheme was required to meet very stringent fire specifications which were achieved by the use of Sky 300, a silicone glass fabric developed by Ferrari.
Our scope of works included designing, manufacturing and installing the scheme, including the silicon glass fabric and wide angle up lighters. This was an intricate installation because all of the components had to be installed during night shifts, without the aid of plant and working over the railway concourse.
The ceiling has transformed the ambiance of the station from dull and dingy to bright and welcoming.
Jan Blake asked us to manufacture tensile fabric sculptures that she had designed for her client Centrica Head Offices in Windsor, which she could then paint artwork directly onto. The structures were to provide a dynamic use of interior space and to be unique features to impress visitors at the offices.
We manufactured the three sculptures which included the silk fabric, patterning and attaching the fabric to the frames. We were also on site to assist with the installation. This type of material is very delicate and therefore we took extraordinary care to ensure manufacturing went smoothly.
The finished objects work very well in their new environment. Jan Blake was extremely pleased with the forms produced and she painted them in our factory. Centrica were also very pleased with their re-vamped offices.
The sports hall situated in Fynshav, Denmark were after a mesh vaulted interior ceiling, so partnering up with BK Teknik – our preferred partner for Danish construction projects, we got started with the single membrane measuring approximately 20m x 42m.
The tensile fabric is supported by a series of suspended headrings in the centre of the roof structure which is then pulled down and tensioned to a series of timber glulam beams via a traditional membrane plate and cable perimeter edge.
The purpose of this membrane is not only to improve the appearance of the internal space but also to diffuse the natural light which enters the building via the extensive sky-lighting. Both certainly are the case for this project!
As one of the world’s largest engineering consultancy practices, Arup commissioned a futuristic design, merging the digital world into physical architecture. Following the No.8@Arup competition and DaeWah Kang Design’s winning entry, “Heart of Arup,” Base were approached to source, supply and install this innovative art installation.
Forging a relationship with the design team, Base was approached to source, supply and install the stainless steel cable system and aluminium stretchers for this exciting project. Our challenge was to develop a suitable design for the project that not only met the budget constraints, yet was also delivered to an extremely tight deadline for the installation – within one weekend! After successful completion, Arup is now able to experiment with the installation and we’re excited to see what this could mean for the future of media architecture.
The Heart of Arup is an interactive multimedia experience that now gracefully hangs within the atrium space at Arup’s global headquarters in London. Social media feeds from the company’s network, Yammer, and is visible within the six storey office. The art installation can be seen from many different points within the building, encouraging a natural form of communication from both public and working spaces.
Although our client was sited in a campus of high architectural quality buildings there was a desire to introduce more informality in order to improve the working experience.
Alongside the introduction of a fabulous coffee cart, meeting pods and nature inspired wall graphics we were asked to provide an array of suspended leaves in their three storey atrium. To avoid a forest of suspension cables a stainless steel net was tensioned between columns at high level allowing each leaf to be on a single drop cable.
The leaves were UV ink jet printed with designs representing the changing colours of the seasons and were grouped in three arrays. The fabric selected was a PVC coated glass cloth mesh that has acoustic properties helping to keep noise levels down for those enjoying the newly invigorated space.
Architects LOM designed four large tensile fabric ‘shards’ forming a sculptural interpretation of the bank’s red logo for the atrium of their Dublin head office in Grand Canal Square.
In collaboration with Stretch Ceilings UK, Base coordinated the design of all the steel rafts as well as the fabrication and suspension of the largest hanging shard. The dramatic shapes which dominate the space were achieved with our unique combination of design, manufacture and rope access installation skills.
In the summer of 2012, Bristol based artist Jan Blake received a commission for a new installation inspired by the suspended silk sculpture ‘New Leaf’ which we helped Jan create in 2005 for the DEFRA HQ in London. A ‘visionary outside-in, inside-out spatial perspective’ inspired by Architect John Tiah, this time the suspended artwork was to be installed a little further from home in Beijing, China.
Using the same construction methods as before but to a slightly smaller scale, we patterned and manufactured the natural silk organza fabrics and fitted them to bespoke steel frames. After Jan had worked her artistic magic by individually hand dyeing the leaves in her studio, they were carefully crated at our Bristol Factory and shipped to Beijing where they were met personally by Jan and her team of specialist riggers who carried out the delicate install.
Commissioned by The Art Management Specialist in Hong Kong, a series of twelve hand painted silk leaves measuring 3.5 metres long by 1.6 metres wide now tumble down from the atrium ceiling of the Indigo Shopping Centre.
Our brief was to provide a spectacular bar for VIPs and artists to service the O2 Venue. The fabric structure consists of four interlocking domes, two entrance tunnels, one of which encloses a staircase, and three conical column claddings.
Barrisol was specified as an ideal material to cope with the complex architectural geometries of each panel. The fabric in the domes is back lit and LED lights are built into the tunnel frames. Base Structures coordinated the complex design and detailing of the scheme and provided the steel frame onto which the Barrisol panels were fixed.
The ambitious design was fully realized to provide a unique chill out zone.
in Bristol
